­­­­Introduction

Government’s sustained initiatives on education, skilling and employment of women have resulted in increased opportunities for their employment, and more and more women are now in gainful employment, working within or outside their homes. Past few decades have shown a rapid increase in nuclear families. Thus, the children of such working women, who were earlier getting support from joint families while they were at work, are now in need of day care services which have to provide quality care and protection for the children. Lack of proper day-care services is, often, a deterrent for women to go out and work. To address these difficulties faced by the working mothers in giving due child care and protection to their children, day-care crèche facilities are being provided through Palna Scheme. Crèche services formalise the child care responsibilities hitherto considered as part of domestic work. Formalization of care work supports the “decent work campaign” to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal 8 – Decent work and economic growth. This will also enable more mothers, who will be free from unpaid child-care responsibilities, to take up gainful employment.

In 2022, erstwhile National Creche Scheme was reorganized and renamed as Palna Scheme under the sub scheme ‘Samarthya’ of ‘Mission Shakti’.  Palna is a Centrally Sponsored Scheme ensuring the participation of State/ UT government to ensure better day-to-day monitoring and proper implementation of scheme, and is implemented with a funding ratio of 60:40 between Centre and State Governments and UTs with legislature except North East & Special Category States where ratio is 90:10. For UTs without legislature, 100% funding is provided by the central government.

 

Objectives of the Palna Scheme

The objective of the Palna scheme is to provide quality crèche facility in safe and secure environment for children (from ages 6 months – 6 years), nutritional support, health and cognitive development of children, growth monitoring & immunization. Crèche facilities under Palna are provided to all mothers, irrespective of their employment status.

Apart from the aforementioned primary objective, another objective of the component would involve monitoring compliance of the stipulations laid down in Section 11A of the Maternity Benefit Act regarding setting up of crèche facilities by the establishments. For this purpose, the States/UTs would explore the possibility of hosting an application/portal in convergence with the Labour & Employment Departments of their respective States/UTs for facilitating establishments to register on the portal and furnish details in respect of the crèches set up in accordance with the Act.

Integrated Package of Services under Palna

The Palna component under the Mission Shakti scheme aims to deliver a comprehensive set of services to children aged 6 months to 6 years. These services are designed to support early childhood care, development, and nutrition in convergence with Mission Poshan 2.0.

Key services include:

• Day care facilities, including sleeping arrangements
• Early stimulation activities for children below 3 years
• Pre-school education for children aged 3 to 6 years
• Supplementary nutrition, sourced locally
• Growth monitoring, health check-ups, and immunization support

 

As part of enhancing access to childcare facilities, the Ministry of Labour & Employment has amended the Maternity Benefit Act to mandate all establishments with 50 or more employees to provide a crèche facility.

Anganwadi cum Crèche (AWCC)

There are two types of Crèches under Palna: Standalone Crèches and Anganwadi-cum-Crèches (AWCCs). As per Mission Shakti guidelines, for Standalone Creches, there is a provision of one Creche Worker and one Creche Helper. Similarly, for AWCCs, in addition to the already existing Anganwadi Worker and Anganwadi Helper, a provision for a Creche Helper and a Creche Worker has been made in Mission Shakti Guidelines. Anganwadi centres are the world's largest childcare institutions dedicated to providing essential care and support to children ensuring delivery of care facilities till the last mile. Anganwadi cum Crèche initiative aims to increase ‘women work force participation’ in the economy. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is targeting to establish 17,000 new Anganwadi cum creches under the Palna Scheme in 2024-25. As of March 2025, 11,395 AWCCs across 34 States/UTs have been approved, as per proposals received from various States and UTs.

Crèche Workers under supervision of Anganwadi worker do proper care and safety of children attending the Creche:

• Provide proper arrangements for sleep and rest of children.
• Ensure personal hygiene and Creche helper keep personal hygiene of every child and keep washrooms clean, help for toilet training.
• Inculcate proper toilet habits and toilet training.
• Facilitate regular health check-ups and referrals in liaison with Asha/AWWs/Primary Health Centre (PHC)/AWC.
• Ensure that the food is hygienically and age appropriately cooked, stored/preserved and fed to the children at appropriate intervals.
• Follow all laid out safety procedures for taking/handing over the child and w.r.t. quality of toys and other materials given to the children.

The Anganwadi Cum creche scheme shall be implemented with the intra-ministerial convergence specially with Integrated Child Development Services and Poshan. It complies with legislations under Labour Laws as well as Maternity Benefits Act. As of February 2025, 1,761 AWCCs are operational with 28,783 current beneficiaries.  Besides this, 1,284 Standalone Creches are also operational across the country with 23,368 current beneficiaries.

 

Creche Operation under Palna Scheme

The Mission Shakti Guidelines state that the crèche timings need to be flexible depending on the local requirements. Crèches shall be open for 26 days in a month and for seven and half (7.5) hours per day as per the work schedule of majority of the mothers in the area. The Standard Operating Procedures for AWCCs also state that the Creche timings may be decided by State/ UT governments as per local need, however, it has to be ensured that timing should facilitate working mothers.

The Creche Workers and Creche Helpers under Palna are honorary workers. There is no provision of salary or wages to the Creche Workers or Creche Helpers. However, the scheme guidelines have provision for grant of honorarium to Creche Workers and Creche Helpers. The amount of honorarium is governed through the type of Creche, and is detailed as below:

 

 

Palna as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme is implemented through the respective State/ UT Government. The respective States/ UTs may provide additional amount of honorarium to Creche Worker/ Helpers, as a Top-Up from their own funds. There is no bar or restriction from the Central Government about this.

 

The funds allocated and released under Palna scheme since its introduction, are detailed as under:

                        (Amount in Crores)

                                                                                                                                     *Data as on December 19, 2024

 

To maintain quality care and individualized attention, each crèche is ideally limited to a maximum of 25 children. To ensure ease of access and continued breastfeeding for infants, crèches must be situated close to either the:

• Residential areas of the children
• Workplaces of the mothers (preferably within 0.5–1 km walking distance)

This proximity supports parental engagement and provides convenience in emergencies or regular pick-up and drop-off.

Conclusion

 

By providing a safe, nurturing, and developmentally appropriate environment for children aged 6 months to 6 years, the Palna scheme ensures that children receive holistic care, nutrition, education, and health services. With convergence across key ministries and flexibility to adapt to local needs, Palna strengthens the foundation for a healthier, more inclusive, and gender-sensitive society.

References

https://wcdhry.gov.in/gallery/haryana-creche/

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2100650

https://missionshakti.wcd.gov.in/statisticsPalna

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1989473

https://wcd.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/WCD/universal-tab/palna_scheme_under_mission_shakti.pdf

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2115235

https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/183/AU4233_BcWNDn.pdf?source=pqals

https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/184/AU3455_1Tt0mw.pdf?source=pqals

https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2024/mar/doc202435319501.pdf

https://missionshakti.wcd.gov.in/public/documents/whatsnew/Approved_AWCC_Sop.pdf

https://wcd.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/WCD/universal-tab/palna_scheme_under_mission_shakti.pdf

Click here to see in PDF

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Santosh Kumar | Sarla Meena | Rishita Aggarwal

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