The Hindu Business Line : Leave room for a creche

Working parents in and around Mumbai would willingly give up fancy swimming pools and clubhouses in their apartment blocks, in favour of a more crucial need... a crèche. But are builders listening?

The construction industry is witnessing a boom in Mumbai, and the neighbouring cities of Thane and Navi Mumbai. Every builder is trying to outmanoeuvre competitors by offering facilities such as a clubhouse, swimming pool, guesthouse, immaculately laid out gardens and so on in high-rise buildings. But it is practically impossible to find a builder who factors in the crying need for a crèche in an upcoming apartment block.

Interestingly, most families seeking these swank new residential complexes happen to be double income couples with young children. While some couples do have their parents to look after the kids, most are nuclear families that have no access to crèches or day-care centres where the children can be left while the parents are at work. Builders have failed to address the all-important need for professionally run crèches.

"I couldn't find any good place to leave my son near my home on Ghodbunder Road, Thane. I wish the builder had provided a crèche instead of a swimming pool, gym or clubhouse which we don't even have time to use," says Suneeta Ramakrishnan, a bank employee.

The daily commute by bus, train and an autorickshaw to her Chembur-based bank takes three hours. Her husband, a software engineer, undertakes a two-hour commute every day. The Ramakrishnans bought their 950-sq-ft apartment at Rs 20 lakh, thanks to a housing loan. Each month, they pay an EMI (equated monthly instalment) of Rs 15,000, made possible by a joint monthly income of Rs 65,000.

Running the household, taking care of the EMI, and paying the monthly maintenance charges are some of the compelling reasons for Suneeta to continue working. But commuting every day with her two-year-old son, leaving him in a crèche close to her office and bringing him back home is an exhausting chore.

Like Suneeta, there are thousands of women in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai who struggle every day to look after their young ones in the absence of family support. To begin with, they move into new flats in far-flung suburbs, often because of a shortage of space in their parents' homes. And once they have moved, the daily struggle unfolds.

Some organisations like The Times of India and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd do offer crèche facilities to their employees. But given the fact that many employees live in the suburbs and find the daily commute to office with children too taxing, a lot of office-managed crèches are underutilised.

In response to this largely unmet need, many housewives, both within the city and in the suburbs, have started `baby-sitting', as they call it. Instead of running a regular crèche, these women baby-sit in their own homes and charge anything between Rs 700 and Rs 1,200 per child. However, they are perceived as having little or no knowledge of crèche management and of being in the business only to make money.

Often, couples would rather leave their school-going children with servants or by themselves at home after school hours. But this decision can sometimes lead to drastic consequences. Last year, a 10-year-old girl in Kandivali was raped and killed by the building's security guard. The child had let herself in after returning from school and was petrified to see a cockroach on the living room sofa. Hearing her scream, the guard arrived, only to rape and kill her.

Women's organisations like the Stree Mukti Sanghatana (SMS) run crèches in Borivali, Vashi and Ghatkopar. "We started our crèche to provide security for children and a relief to working mothers," says Jyoti Mhapsekar of SMS. These crèches look after children aged four months to 10 years. However, girls who are older are also welcome. SMS crèches function from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

SMS charges Rs 850 for kids below two-and-a-half years, and Rs 750 for older ones. It provides breakfast, lunch and evening snacks. Anything extra — like milk, biscuits or fruit — has to be paid for separately. While there are a few professionally managed crèches, like Blossom at Thane and Ma-Bal at Ville Parle, the number is clearly not enough to meet the need. Besides, none are close to the new townships mushrooming in the suburbs.

Neelkanth Builders, one of the oldest in Mumbai with premium housing colonies to their credit, are open to the idea of providing crèches in their future projects. "We plan to start a crèche at our project at Neelkanth Palms in Thane," says Mukesh Patel, director of Neelkanth Builders.

Kalpataru Builders, which is developing prime properties in the suburbs of Andheri and Thane, also seems to have realised the need for crèches. "We have given serious thought to including crèches in our projects. We know it is the need of the time and have decided to build crèches in two of our projects — Kalpataru Estate at Andheri and Siddhachal Project II at Thane," says Mofatraj Munot of Kalpataru builders.

Hopefully, the Maharashtra Chamber of Housing Industry (MCHI) will take the lead in sensitising builders. Sunil Mantri, Vice-Pesident, MCHI, says, "So far none of our builder-members have come forward with a plan for a crèche. Though we know it is an essential requirement for an urban nuclear family, we can't force our member-builders to offer this facility. But we would definitely like to popularise this idea." But that could take a long time.

Women's Feature Service

Picture by G.R.N. Somashekar

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