COWE INDIA, UNDP join hands to develop sustainable workplace childcare model
As part of the collaboration, two Aveksha day care centres at Pashamailaram and Suraram on the outskirts of Hyderabad, will be developed as pilot facilities with UNDP support, COWE INDIA said in a release on Friday.
The initiative seeks to create a self-sustaining funding model by mobilising contributions from industry associations, corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds and nominal payments from parents.
The partnership was formally launched at the Aveksha Day Care Centre in Pashamailaram in the presence of Shruti Ojha, Special Secretary and Director of Women and Child Welfare and Social Welfare, Telangana, and Jeya Chandran, Regional Head, Southern India, UNDP.
Speaking on the occasion, Shruti Ojha said the initiative would provide safe and reliable childcare facilities for working women, enabling them to pursue employment without concerns over the safety and care of their children.
Jeya Chandran said the collaboration between COWE INDIA, UNDP and the Telangana Government, supported by technologies such as artificial intelligence, could serve as a model for future childcare facilities.
Each pilot centre will provide three nutritious meals a day and early childhood education to children of women employed in nearby industrial clusters.
COWE INDIA Founder Director Uma Ghurka said the initiative aimed to reduce dependence on grants by mobilising support from industries, CSR contributions and parents, with the latter’s payments supported by the income earned by working mothers.
The launch also featured Sajag AI, a CCTV-based safety alert system developed by two Class 10 students, Shloak Bihani of CHIREC International School, Hyderabad, and Aryaman Taparia of Step By Step School, Noida.
The system detects potentially unsafe incidents through existing CCTV feeds and sends alerts to centre coordinators and monitoring teams through SMS and email for verification and necessary action.
In another initiative, children aged between nine and 12 years, who earned money through a Kidspreneur programme, contributed Rs 40,000 towards the Aveksha day care centres.
Aveksha, an initiative of COWE INDIA supported by SIDBI and corporate CSR funding, currently operates 18 centres across industrial clusters in Telangana and is expected to expand to more than 20 shortly.
Each centre accommodates around 20 to 30 children and operates from 9 am to 6 pm, providing free or highly subsidised childcare services.
The initiative has enabled hundreds of women, including first-time job seekers, to enter the workforce, COWE INDIA said.
TNT TS
