Nursery Rules in India | Explained

The Story So Far: Five caregivers at ‘Little Buds Day Care’, located at Capgemini’s Brookefield campus in Bengaluru, were booked after shocking videos surfaced showing them abusing toddlers cruelly. Employees allegedly placed crying children in front-loading washing machines, locked them in bathrooms and sprayed toilet water into their mouths. The incident raised the security measures that such childcare centers should take.

What are the nursery rules?

The Ministry of Women and Child Development, in consultation with the Ministry of Labour, issued guidelines in 2024 prescribing national minimum standards and protocol for the establishment and operation of crèches in India, emphasizing the institutionalization of care services to promote and promote women’s labor force participation.

“Suggestive” standards and protocol have been formulated for setting up crèches by any individuals / service agencies / corporations / companies / universities / hospitals / care providers / government organizations / NGOs etc., addressing the minimum essential requirements.

The document recommended the state governments and UT administrations to adopt these standards and protocols for setting up and managing crèches.

As a crèche is defined in the guidelines

According to the guidelines, a crèche is a care center that provides a safe and nurturing environment for children while their parents or guardians are at work. These facilities prioritize children’s health, provide complementary nutritious meals and maintain a safe and secure environment. It provides age-appropriate educational activities to support the holistic development of the child.

What are the goals of the nursery

The primary objectives are to provide child care facilities for parents/guardians who do any job, to offer a safe and secure environment for children, to ensure “women-led development”, to emerge as a new service sector that provides employment opportunities for women, to encourage women to continue their careers and seek other employment opportunities, to promote women’s participation in the economy, and to consider new educational sectors in the form of training institutions with globally recognized certification institutions.

Also read: Parenting is not child’s play

What are the key points to consider before opening a nursery

Key features include that crèches can be provided from the age group of 6 months and above, they can be set up in any office space, residential flat/company, school, hospital, cooperative office or any other location as per requirements, it is ideal to have a crèche close to the children’s home or close to the parents/guardians workplace so that the parents/guardians can be contacted even in case of care emergencies on a regular/day/hour basis.

What are the placement specifics in the instructions

For ease of access and convenience, it is preferable for the crèche to be set up on the ground floor. However, if it is on another floor, all necessary safety measures must be observed, the nursery time can be based on demand and mutually agreed upon by the nursery management and the parents/guardian, The number of rooms can be as requested depending on the number of children. However, the rooms should have sufficient space with equipment for rest and study of children with ventilation and lighting. Nursery windows should be placed at an appropriate height and should be properly fenced so that children’s safety is a priority.

What are the other specs

The nursery must have a children’s toilet with running water, a urinal. Toilets/sinks must contain soaps/liquid hand wash. The needs of specially disabled children must also be kept in mind. Hygiene inside and outside the nursery should be properly maintained. The resort must have safe drinking water, preferably with a water purifier. The nursery manager and the parents/guardian can mutually decide on the meals provided to the children.

Children should be provided with play materials and toys (essential ECCE study and play materials, sports materials, blocks, etc.). Where appropriate and practicable, audiovisual equipment may be provided to stimulate age-appropriate learning and cognitive development.

What are the specified security measures

Nurseries should have child-friendly spaces that are designed and adapted specifically to meet the needs, child safety, important and emergency contact numbers (helplines such as 112, 1098, fire and rescue services, child protection officer, nearest police station etc.) should be displayed on basic information boards for easy access and reference, regular food safety and hygiene checks are essential to ensure food quality.

It is mandatory to install CCTV cameras to ensure safety and surveillance in the crèche. Where possible, parents/guardians may be given access to CCTV cameras, enabling them to monitor the crèche remotely from their workplace.

The local police station, women and child development/welfare department and ministry of labor should always have information about the location and details of crèches for security purposes and the information kept by these authorities.

What are the guidelines for hiring employees?

To check in 20-25 children, there should be at least 1 crèche supervisor and one helper in the crèche. A nursery manager should have a minimum of 12th pass and a nursery assistant should be a 10th pass.

Staff should preferably have 2 years experience working in the childcare sector, either in a professional setting or as a volunteer. Those with a diploma in childcare or nursing may be preferred. Only women are to be accepted as childminders.

Police clearance certificate, character certificate and medical certificate must be requested before renting.

The guidelines also mandate a crèche management committee. The indicative composition of the crèche administrative committee includes a crèche manager (appointed by the institution/organisation operating the crèche), a crèche supervisor and parents/guardians (preferably 3) of children who are recipients of support.

Nursery and labor law

The Social Security Code and the Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions Code mandate that in any establishment where 50 or more workers are employed, crèches must be either separate or shared at a prescribed distance.” The codes require employers to allow a woman four visits to the crèche per day, which includes rest intervals below the rest intervals. According to the union Ministry of Labor, so that women can work and work in balance with the age of 6. family.

The Code also allows facilities to use joint crèches of the central government, state government, municipality or private entity or non-governmental organizations that can pool their resources to set up joint crèches. Unions and working women’s organizations complain that many establishments do not provide such facilities.

(With inputs from AM Jigeesh)

Published – 02 Jul 2026 15:40 IST