Singha Durbar daycare center under pressure to expand

KATHMANDU, Sept 8: The daycare center at Singha Durbar is under pressure with more female employees turning to it as the best alternative for the care of their children while they are at work.



Dozens of children are on the waiting list even though the center has already exceeded its capacity.[break]



The center, built to accommodate only 40 children, is currently taking care of 50. Thapa said that pregnant women employees visit the center to reserve accommodation for their infants in advance.



The children admitted at the center are mostly aged between three months to three years. The women employees say they have been able to work with a free mind with the center taking care of their children.



The women employees can even visit the center to breastfeed infants whenever they get time. “The children admitted at the center aren"t deprived of breast milk,” Shanti Thapa, manager of the center said, adding, “The mothers come at leisure time to feed them.”



The presence of the daycare center at workplace also makes it easier for mothers to check on their little ones time to time when they are unwell.



The caregivers at the center are the wives of peons and drivers working for various offices in Singha Durbar, according to Thapa said. The center that provides nutritious food to the kids charges only Rs 500 per month per child.



´I have no one to take care of my child at home,” Binu Adhikari, an employee working at the Commission for the High-level Information Technology, said. Adhikari"s husband, a lawyer, has no time to look after the child. “With the care center close to my office, I can visit my child thrice a day during the office time,” Adhikari said. She has never had to take leave for reasons after she admitted her child at the center.



Women hired on contract and lower-level employees have benefited the most from the center. Such women do not get long leaves and would have to stop coming to work, in the absence of a center like the one that is in operation, to take care of their newborn, Thapa, the center"s manager said.



The care givers at the center have received primary professional Montessori training and the children undergo regular health check-ups with the doctors from Civil Hospital.

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