Panvel Municipal Corporation starts inspecting daycare centres

Once the information is collected, the officials will proceed with the guidelines given by the state

Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC) officials have started visiting daycare centers under their jurisdiction and inquiring what measures are in place to take care of the children.

There are 15 to 20 daycare centres under the Panvel City Municipal Corporation’s jurisdiction.(HT File Photo)

Once the information is collected, the officials will proceed with the guidelines given by the state, said a senior officer.

New rules for city’s crèches

Following the incident in which a nine-month-old girl was assaulted by the help of a daycare centre, the Navi Mumbai police have issued a notification to all daycare centres in the city under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code, stating that four rules must be complied with to ensure the safety of children at such places.

The owners must conduct background checks and verify the helps and other employees at the time of hiring them.

They must install CCTV cameras when the centre is set up.

The owner will have to review footage of the CCTV cameras every 24 hours to check if any untoward incidents have taken place on the premises.

The CCTV cameras must be IP (internet protocol)-based so parents can see what is happening in the centres from their workplace or from any part of the world.

“The survey has started. It will be completed within a few days. We will see if the government comes up with rules and regulations for daycare centres by then. We would like to follow rules formulated by the state instead of making our own. It is better to have common rules for the entire state, instead of different rules for different corporations,” said municipal commissioner, Sudhakar Shinde.

According to Shinde, the City and Industrial Development Corporation (CIDCO) has not handed over several nodes to the PCMC yet. “Areas such Kharghar, Kalamboli and Kamothe are still under CIDCO’s jurisdiction. So we will meet CIDCO officials and discuss what measures can be taken for daycare centres in those nodes,” he said.

“There are 15 to 20 daycare centres under our jurisdiction. However, a problem has arisen as several schools have been combined with such playschools and nurseries. We first have to distinguish daycare centers from schools. We can give them guidelines only after that,” Shinde said.

Read

Cops give Navi Mumbai daycare centres 90 days to implement guidelines

Accused in Mumbai’s daycare assault case had planned to open another centre

Nine-month-old girl assaulted at Mumbai daycare centre, 2 arrested

Daycare centre assault: Cops record statements of other parents