Lucknow: CSIR-CDRI opens crèche for its scientists having babies
With an aim to support its employees having babies, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow opened ‘Gulmohar’—a state-of-the-art crèche—on its campus on Friday
With an aim to support its employees having babies, CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) in Lucknow opened ‘Gulmohar’—a state-of-the-art crèche—on its campus on Friday.
“The crèche has a range of facilities and features tailored to meet the needs of both parents and children. These include safety and convenient location within the CDRI campus. It will help the 20 working parents who were having trouble in putting their babies in crèche outside the campus,” said CSIR-CDRI director Dr Radha Rangarajan. “They can keep their kids here for a nominal amount,” she added.
“Gulmohar reflects the commitment of CSIR-CDRI to create an inclusive and supportive workplace,” said Shubha Shukla, secretary, Gulmohar. Ritu Trivedi, chairperson of the crèche said the child care centre offered a variety of things, including physical activities, quiet time (sleeping time), daily storybook sessions, group and individual activities and rest periods.
Notably, activities are tailored to accommodate the needs of children with special requirements too. Some activities include painting, story time, music, dance and other engaging endeavours that contribute to the overall development of children.
“The Union ministry of labour and employment has notified the Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017, mandating that every establishment with 50 or employees shall have a crèche. In this regard, the Union ministry of women and child development has formulated the national minimum guidelines for setting up and running of crèches under the said Act,” the institute said in their statement.
Children in the age-group of 3 months to 10 years are eligible to be enrolled at the crèche. Day care is also open to guests of CSIR-CDRI but prior approval is required from the crèche committee. The day care timings are from 9:00am till 5:30pm on Mondays to Fridays.