To make lives easy for the policewomen who are mothers, too, the Kalimpong Superintendent of Police has set up a creche in a women police station in the district. The construction of this creche house began on 8 March on the occasion of the International Women’s Day.
Speaking with Indian Masterminds, SP Kalimpong, West Bengal, Aparajita Rai, IPS, shared details about the initiative.
CRECHE IN POLICE STATION CAMPUS
Ms. Rai said that they had a meeting of policewomen across all ranks in the beginning of the year, where they discussed issues that they faced in their professional life. Some mentioned that they have very small children and they either have to take extended leave in order to look after them at home or they have to sometimes leave them at their neighbour’s home, or even lock them up in their own house with food.
Some of them mentioned that even if they wanted to join back after their maternity leave or after their child care leave, they were unable to do so because they had to take care of their children.
The officer understood that because of micro families, very few have the privilege of having grandparents or parents at their home to look after the children.
“Hearing these problems, we thought that if there is a creche at the police station, they can at least keep the children in a safe place next to their work place, and then after work gets over, they can pick them up and go home together,’ Ms. Rai said.
There is a separate women police station in Kalimpong district with a separate building, and here, the officer decided to have the creche house.
“We invited a company called Pataka Group of Kolkata to help us in doing the interiors through their CSR,” Ms. Rai said.
NURTURING THE CHILDREN
There is a welfare section in the police department to look after the creche house. The OC of the Women PS does day-to-day supervision and handles all issues. While, trained volunteers and civic police volunteers look after the children.
“The women who look after the children also help the kids in doing their homework which they bring from school. They teach them the basics like alphabets and numbers, and read out small stories to them,” Ms. Rai informed.
Almost 36 personnel have signed up for the facility and on an average, the creche gets 10-11 children a day, especially after school hours, ranging in the age group of 2-13 years.
OPEN FOR MEN PERSONNEL
Ms. Rai further informed that as of now, women are the only ones keeping their children at the creche. “But there is no prohibition as such for men personnel to keep their children here,” she added.
The policewomen are very happy about the creche house as they are able to work without having to worry about their kids. “However, they are saying that the space is slightly smaller, so we may have to increase it,” Ms. Rai said.
After seeing the Kalimpong example, police stations in other districts have also started emulating it, and as a result, beautiful creches have come up in Darjeeling and South Dinajpur, as well.
