“Ab to ghar par bhi saboon maangti hai hath dhone ke liye” (Now she asks for soap even at home to wash her hands) – Laxmi.
Laxmi (name changed), happily narrated how she has learned the importance of hand washing from her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter who goes to the crèche, run by Ekjut, a not-for-profit organisation.
Crèche, locally known as Ba-bagaan, is an initiative by Ekjut to break the vicious cycle of malnutrition among children, below three years of age, of tribal groups of Jharkhand’s West Singhbhum district. Having a crèche for children is guided by the rationale of the importance of the first 1000 days of a child’s life.
A Crèche
A crèche, manned by two workers, is set up per 500-1000 population and caters to 15-20 children. It mostly has two small rooms – one room where children sleep and the other where they eat, play, and dance – and a separate kitchen. Depending upon the availability of space, a crèche is primarily a suitable house, safe for children with adequate ventilation and light, in the village identified by the people from the same village. The community, especially mothers, contribute in one or the other way to the functioning of crèches by setting up kitchen gardens, painting the crèche, etc.
A crèche worker is a member of the same community where the crèche becomes operational. Community members collectively recommend 2-3 women for the post of crèche workers. The selected worker(s) undergo(es) 2-3 days of residential training, facilitated by Ekjut, in multiple aspects of crèche management. As a beginner, each worker receives a monthly remuneration which increases with years of experience. The government-run Integrated Child Development Service (ICDS) program provides organised support to children above the three years age group, albeit with numerous challenges. Children of this age group either remain with their parents in the workplace or are being cared for by their elder siblings, leading many of them to drop out of school. It is in this context that crèche is emerging as a pivotal initiative to combat undernutrition among them.
A day in a crèche
A crèche opens for eight hours a day on all days, except Sundays. Its functional timing is based on the working hours of parents, mostly mothers. Children are served food thrice a day – breakfast made of sattu (roasted and grounded horse gram)/sooji (granulated wheat); lunch made of vegetable khichdi along with eggs; any snack in the evening. Additional oil is put on top of the food while serving. This diet ensures around 70 percent of the daily nutritional requirement of children. They are trained to eat with a spoon to enhance their fine motor skills. It also serves as a space for facilitating socialisation among children. For instance, all children form a queue while going to the toilet, wash their hands before and after food; sit together while having food; sleep together under mosquito nets; play together, etc. They enjoy being in the crèche, share a special relationship with the crèche worker and hence, insist on going to the crèche even on Sundays, as pointed out by mothers of children.
“Jab hum bolte hai bachhon ko dawai khane, toh woh nahi sunte hai, lekin jaise hi crèche didi bolti hai, woh turant kha lete hai” (when we urge our children to eat medicine, they do not listen, but as soon as crèche didi asks, they eat it immediately) – mothers of crèche-going children from Narangabeda village.
The crèche appears to play a significant role in the life of this community by not only improving nutritional status (ongoing MIS data suggests more than 75 percent reduction in percentage of children with Severe Acute Malnutrition within 6 months of admission to crèches) and facilitating socialization of the children, but also empowering women in many ways – by providing them with livelihood opportunities as crèche workers; allowing other women to do their work outside and in the house without getting worried about their children; allowing elder siblings to continue with their education. However, Ekjut had to shut down a few creches due to reasons beyond their control and the repercussions it had were evident. A mother who works as an agricultural labourer explains that, as no one is there at home to take care of her child, she must carry her to the field where she is unable to feed her regularly. The Anganwadi worker recommended she take the child to the malnutrition treatment centre, but she could not go as she cannot afford to forgo even one day of her income.
To make the crèche initiative sustainable, the state must support this like the Anganwadi centre. It may be worth noting that the neighbouring district of Keonjhar in Odisha is running more than 700 crèches from the funds of the District Mineral Foundation which can be replicated in West Singbhum and other districts of Jharkhand.
Sapna Mishra and Arima Mishra are faculty members of School of Development, Azim Premji University. Shibanand Rath works with Ekjut. Views expressed are personal.
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