Gautam Budh Nagar admin asks builders to set up creches near construction sites

GREATER NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has directed construction site owners, developers and builders employing 50 or more workers to set up creche facilities for workers’ children within 15 days, officials said on Wednesday

GREATER NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar administration has directed construction site owners, developers and builders employing 50 or more workers to set up creche facilities for workers’ children within 15 days, officials said on Wednesday.

The person in charge of the creche must be a woman, while all creche staff must undergo police verification, said officials. (HT Archive)

The facilities that must be located away from dust, smoke and other potentially hazardous conditions, are required to be accessible to all construction workers and employees, the officials said.

“The objective is to ensure that children of construction workers have access to a safe, clean and child-friendly facility while their parents are at work. Construction establishments meeting the prescribed threshold must comply within the stipulated period,” district magistrate Medha Roopa said in a statement.

The directive has also made safety and monitoring measures mandatory. The person in charge of a creche must be a woman, while all creche staff must undergo police verification, said officials.

“No child should be subjected to any form of physical or mental punishment in the creche. The safety and wellbeing of children must remain the primary consideration and thus, CCTV monitoring must be installed and details of all children admitted to the facility must be maintained in a register,” the DM said.

Also, the creches will be required to have first-aid facilities and display important emergency contact numbers, including Dial 112, Child Helpline 1098, fire department, child protection officer and the nearest police station.

“The objective is to ensure that construction workers’ kids have access to a safe and suitable facility when their parents are at work,” said Suyash Pandey, assistant labour commissioner, Gautam Budh Nagar.

The construction sites employing 50 or more workers will have to also inform the deputy director, Factories, at Kanchanjunga, Sector 63, Noida, and the additional labour commissioner at G-25A, Sector 3, Noida, after completing the mandated arrangements.

According to district officials, there are around 10-12 labour chowks in Noida alone, including those in Harola, Sector 57, Sector 63, and Parthala, among others.

The district has a sizeable construction workforce, with daily-wage workers commonly gathering at several such sites in Noida and Greater Noida to seek employment at construction sites.