Nat

ional
Gui
deli
nesforset
ti
ngupandr
unni
ngcr
echesundert
heMat
erni
tyBenef
it
(
Amendment)Act,
2017
Section11Amandat estheest
abli
shmentofcrècheswithi
nsuchdi stanceasmaybe
prescri
bed,eit
herseparatel
yoralongwi t
hcommonf acil
it
ies.AsperSection2(l)
,
“prescri
bed”meanspr escri
bedbyrulesmadeundert hi
sAct .Fur
ther
,asperSect i
on
28oft heAct,rulescanbeprescri
bedbyt heSt
ateorCentral Gov
ernmentast hecase
maybef orcar
ry i
ngoutthepurposesoftheAct.Thefol
lowingaresomeoft hekey
guideli
nespublishedintheGazett
ebyt heMini
stryofWomenandChi ldDevelopment.

Cr
ècheForWhom
Theuseofacrèchefacil
it
yispr
oposedt
obeextendedtochil
drenoft
heagegroup
of6monthsto6y earsofall
employ
eesi
ncl
udi
ngt emporar
y,dail
ywage,
consul
tant
andcont
ract
ualpersonnel
.

Cr
ècheLocat
ion
Thecentershoul
dbenear
/att
hewor
kpl
acesi
teori
nthebenef
ici
ari
es’
nei
ghbor
hood,
wit
hin500met er
s.

Ti
mings
Thecr èchepr
eferablyshouldopenfor8hourst
o10hours.I
nthi
scase,t
heworker
s
canfollowashiftsystem.Incasetheestabl
i
shmenthasdayandni
ghtshi
ft
s,t
hen
thecrècheshouldalsober uninshi
fts.

Faci
l
iti
est
obepr
ovi
ded
Crèchesshouldbeconcret
e,withaminspaceof10-12sq.
ft
.perchi
l
d,wit
h
venti
lat
ion,dr
inki
ngwaterandwithnounsaf
eplacessuchasopendrai
ns,pi
ts,
garbagebinsnearthecent
er.Furt
her
,ot
herfaci
l
iti
estobeprov
idedi
ncl
ude:

Aguar
d,whoshoul
dhav
eunder
gonepol
i
cev
eri
fi
cat
ion.
Rampsandhandr
ail
s.
Ev
eryCr
echeshoul
dhav
eonesuper
visorpercr
èche.
TheCrecheshouldhaveaminimum ofonet
rai
nedwor
kerf
orev
ery10chi
l
drenwho
areundert
hreeyearsofage.
Forevery20chi
l
drenabov
et heageoft
hree,
thecr
echeshoul
dhav
eonet
rai
ned
workeralongwi
thahel
per.
Noplumber
s,dri
ver
s,andelect
ri
ciansandotherout
sideper
sonsshoul
dbeal
l
owed
i
nsi
dethecrèchewhenchi
ldrenarepresent
.
ACrèchemonit
ori
ngcommi tt
eeshoul
dbefor
medhav i
ngr
epr
esent
ati
onsf
rom
amongcrècheworker
s,par
ents,
andadmi
nist
rat
ion.
Formingagr
iev
ancer
edr
essal
commi
tt
eef
ori
nqui
ri
ngi
ntoi
nst
ancesofsexual
abuse.
Mat
erni
tyBenef
it(
MinesandCi
rcus)AmendmentRul
es2019
I
tisperti
nenttonotetheserulesdonotapplytoCr
èchesestabl
ishedinMi nesand
Cir
cusestabli
shments.CrèchesinMinesareregul
atedbytheMaternityBenefi
t
(MinesandCircus)AmendmentRul es2019.Someoft hekeypr
ov i
sionsincl
ude:

Rul
e2(
b)–Thecr
èchesar
esetupf
orchi
l
drenunder6y
ear
sofage.
Rul
e4-Thecrèchesar
edi
vi
dedi
nto4Ty
pes(
A,B,
C,D)basedont
henumberof
womenemployed.
Rul
e4-Basi
cSt
andar
drequi
rement
stobepr
ovi
ded.
Rul
e8-Thecrèchesshal
lbeopendur
ingt
hewhol
edayandopenatni
ghti
fthe
womenemployeesareattheof
fi
ce.
Rul
e9-Rest
ri
cti
onofaccesst
oout
sider
s.
Rul
e10-Gui
del
i
nesf
ormedi
cal
arr
angement
s.
Ar
ecr
echef
aci
l
iti
esmandat
ory
?
ThelanguageofSect i
on11Aoft heAmendmentAct ,2017i sthatCr
èchefaci
li
ti
es
shallbeestabli
shedat“everyestabl
ishment”
.Thus,goingbyt herul
eofli
ter
al
i
nterpret
ati
on, i
tcanbeinferredthatthesect
ionmandat estoestabl
ishcr
èchesonl
y
i
nt hose“establ
ishments”cov er
edunderthedefi
nit
ionof“ est
abli
shment”under
Section3(e)oftheAct.

Further
,itcanal
sobei nfer
redt
hatan“est
abl
ishment”excl
udedunderSect
ion2(
2)
orexcludedbynotif
icati
onunderSect
ion26oftheAct,i
snotobl
igedtosetupa
crècheasmandat ed.

Asment i
onedabov e,Secti
on11A’ smandat et
osetcrèchesappl
iesto
“est
ablishments”undert heambi toft
heMat erni
tyBenef
itAct
,1961.Further,
the
clar
ifi
cati
onnotifi
cat i
onissuedonbehalfofTheMat erni
tyBenef
it(Amendment )Act
,
2017,clari
fi
edthatasSect i
on2hasnotunder goneanamendment ,
thereareno
changesr egar
dingt heapplicati
onoftheActof1961.AsperSection2(b),an
“est
ablishment”includesever yshoporestabl
i
shmentwi t
hint
hemeani ngofanylaw
forthetimebeingi nforceinrelati
ontoshopsandestabli
shmentsinaSt ate.
Consequent ly
, cr
èchesaremandat oryi
nallestabli
shment scoveredunderDelhi
ShopsandEst abli
shmentAct ,
1954.AsperSect ion2(5)ofthe1954Act ,
“commer cialestabli
shment”meansanypr emiseswher ei
nanytrade,businessor
prof
essionoranywor ki
nconnectionwit
h,orincidentaloranci
ll
arytheretoiscar
ri
ed
on..
”.Furt
her ,asperSecti
on2( 9)oftheActof1954, “‘est
abli
shment ’
meansashop,
acommer cialestabl
ishment…”.

Thus,Cr
èchesar
emandat or
yincompanies,f
ir
msandconsul
tantcompani
eseven
thought
heymaybei ncor
por
atedorr
egister
edunderThePar
tner
shipAct
,1932or
CompaniesAct
,2013.

Concl
usi
on
The AmendmentActhas come i
ntof
orce wi
th ef
fectf
rom 1 Apr
il2017.Al
l
est
abl
i
shment
scov
eredundert
heAmendmentActwer
esupposedt
oamendt
hei
r
exi
sti
ngmat
erni
tybenef
itpol
i
ciest
obr
ingi
tinl
i
newi
tht
heAmendmentActwi
th
ef
fectf
rom 1Apr
il2017.Thechangesbr
oughtt
hrought
heAmendmentActar
e
appl
audedbyev
ery
one.Howev
er,t
her
ear
edi
ff
erentaspect
soft
heAmendmentAct
t
hatr
equi
recl
ari
ty.I
tisnotcl
earwhet
heri
ncr
easedmat
erni
tybenef
it
swi
l
lal
sobe
appl
i
cabl
etowomenwhoar
ecur
rent
lyunder
goi
ngmat
erni
tyl
eav
e.Fur
ther
mor
e,t
he
j
ust
if
icat
ionf
orhav
ingsepar
ateef
fect
ivedat
efori
mpl
ement
ing“
wor
kfr
om home”
opt
ioni
snotcl
ear
,fort
her
easont
hatwor
ksf
rom homei
sanenabl
i
ngpr
ovi
sion
br
oughti
ntof
orce t
oinspi
re empl
oyer
sto pr
ovi
de such choi
ce t
o a woman
dependi
ng upon t
henat
ureofwor
kbei
ng handl
ed byherand nota st
atut
ory
r
equi
rementundert
heMBAmendmentAct
.Ther
equi
rement
sli
kecr
echef
aci
l
iti
es
r
equi
remor
ecapi
talandoper
ati
ngex
pendi
tur
eont
hepar
toft
heempl
oyer
.The
est
abl
i
shment
swi
l
lhav
etobeart
hewhol
ecostofpr
ovi
dingl
eav
etoempl
oyees.I
n
mostcount
ri
es,t
hecostofmat
erni
tyl
eav
eisshar
edbyt
hegov
ernment
,empl
oyer
,
i
nsur
anceagencyandot
hersoci
alsecur
it
ypr
ogr
ams.