In `silicon city’, BPOs offer crèches for working moms

BANGALORE: Managing work and family life can be daunting for mothers of young children – but help is now at hand for BPO workers in Bangalore.

The corporate sector is offering crèches in their office premises so mothers can concentrate in their job as children play next door.

These crèches are not just shelters. They train toddlers for their all round development, which includes feeding and toilet training, movement, cognitive development, language skills, handling pencils and crayons, and mingling with others.
 
Wipro Technologies had set a trademark with a crèche in place for the last nine years. Children between 1-6 years of age of  Wipro staff are admitted to Nirale, the crèche style. Mothers can put their babies here even for short term. 
 
The timing, 8am to 7pm, is suited to the working hours of Wipro. The ratio of care givers to the children is 1:3. "I work for Wipro K1 that is located in Koramangala 5th block. While in the initial months, my mom used to take care of the baby, soon as my daughter became a year old, I put her in my office crèche. It is convenient for me as the creche is located in Koramangala 3rd block and I can drop her there on my way to work and pick her up while heading home," said Bhuvaneshwari M  name changed), a software professional with Wipro.
 
IBM too has a crèche though it is not located in the campus. Another such organisation is 24X7 Customer Care, a city-based  BPO, which is planning to open one shortly.

"Women comprise 28 per cent of our workforce. We want to encourage them to continue with their job after having their baby too. An in-house crèche will be ideal for these working women wherein they will be able to concentrate at work knowing that their babies are in safe hands," said Rekha R, a senior manager, corporate communications, 24X7 Customer Care.
  
Though women employees in government jobs can afford to take leave up to two years after delivering child, there is no such facility for those working in the private sector. Maternity leave is generally for a three-month period, which can be extended at best to an additional three months without pay. Considering the nuclear family structure, crèche is the only viable option. 

"Resuming to work after maternity leave, I put my baby in a crèche near my house. But within days, my child became cranky. Then I realised that the crèche in-charge never used to feed the baby properly and my son used to feel hungry," said Lakshmi R, a former PR person and now a full-time mother.

She, initially, tried to work from home in the morning and attend office in the afternoon. But when that did not work well, she quit the job.
  
Kuddlekidz is another day care centre tied up with HCL Technologies. Shamala Shekharan, the founder of  Kuddlekidz, has  been running the centre since 1999.

"My clients include employees from Wipro and IBM. We keep children here from the age group of four-months to 12 and have 40  of them with us."
   
Your Kids are Our Kids is a day care centre which accommodates 300 children in its two centers in Koramangala and Bannerghatta road.
 
"For every 12 toddlers, we have one teacher and one assistant", said Sharada Ramakrishna, the convenor of the centre located near the campuses of Accenture, Oracle.

Started two years ago, the centre takes children in the age group of 3 months to 12 years.  It is tied up with IBM.