The Calcutta High Court has issued a direction to launch a crèche to address the need to keep children out of the courtroom. While the parents might be summoned to present their statements before the court, however small children are not allowed in there. Even the lawyers are not exempt from this rule. This creates a difficult situation for the parents with newborns.
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To ease the complication, the Calcutta High Court is going to launch a crèche facility. Not only court staff and lawyers, but litigants will also be able to keep children aged six months to five years in the crèche. Nurses and medical officers will be present for care. The court guidelines state that there will also be a separate room for breastfeeding in the crèche.
Calcutta High Court crèche facility guidelines
According to the guidelines, the crèche will remain open from 10:30 AM to 6:00 PM on court working days. If a child is kept for one day, no admission fee will be required and only a service charge of ₹100 will be charged. However, if the child needs to be kept for a month or more, an admission fee of ₹1,000 will be required along with a monthly fee of ₹1,500. For now, four children can be accommodated together in the crèche.
A birth certificate is mandatory for keeping a child in the crèche. Emergency contact numbers must also be provided so that parents can be contacted at any time. The responsibility for the child's food, milk, diapers, extra clothes and necessary medicines will remain with the guardian. Additionally, CCTV cameras will be installed in the crèche for security.
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Staff and launch timeline of the High Court crèche
For the care of the children, there will be one medical officer, one trained nurse and two ayahs. It has been learned that one in-charge, one assistant in-charge, two administrative officers and two security personnel will also be posted in the crèche.
Notably, in 2019, three lawyers filed a public interest litigation demanding the launch of a crèche at Calcutta High Court. After that, a room on the fourth floor of the High Court was earmarked for the crèche. However, it could not be launched due to a lack of trained nurses and paediatricians. Finally, the Calcutta High Court has issued guidelines stating that the crèche must be launched within the next 30 days.
