Bengaluru: Month after daycare abuse case, revised guidelines to monitor them yet to be issued

A month after the daycare abuse case in Bengaluru, the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (KSCPCR) has not yet issued revised guidelines for monitoring private crèches and daycare centres. The commission has formed an expert committee to draft these guidelines, but they have yet to be released. KSCPCR Secretary Indramma G. stated that the committee, headed by a retired senior official, will soon frame the revised guidelines and share them with the Department of Women and Child Development.

The guidelines will appoint a nodal department to monitor crèches across the state and a district-level inspection committee to inspect them. Currently, there is no such department or agency at the State level to monitor crèches and daycare centres, as per the 2015 guidelines. Child rights activist K.T. Thippeswamy expressed disappointment over the delay in issuing new guidelines and the absence of a nodal department and inspection committee.

He emphasized the need for District Child Protection Officers (DCPOs) to be members of these committees, given their close work with children and knowledge of child rights, the Right to Education Act, 2009, and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.