Palna Scheme

• The Union Women and Child Development Ministry aims to establish 17,000 creches in Anganwadi centres across the country out of which 5,222 have been approved to date.
  • The Ministry also plans to depute two additional creche workers in Anganwadis along with the existing staff.
• These initiatives are being taken under the ‘Palna’ scheme.

 ABOUT PALNA SCHEME

• The erstwhile National Creche Scheme has been reorganized and renamed as Palna Scheme under the sub scheme ‘Samarthya’ of ‘Mission Shakti’.
• The objective of the scheme is to address the urgent need for quality day-care facilities/creches for the children of working women by providing a safe and secure environment for the nutritional, health and cognitive development of the children.
• Thus it aims at enabling more women to take up gainful employment amongst all socio-economic groups both in the organized and unorganized sector, irrespective of their employment status.
• Objectives
  • To provide day-care facilities for children (6 months to 6 years) of working mothers in the community.
  • To improve nutrition and health status of children.
  • To promote physical, cognitive, social and emotional development (Holistic Development) of children.
  • To educate and empower parents /caregivers for better childcare.
• The scheme focuses on two types of crèches
  • Anganwadi-cum-Crèches: These centers combine existing Anganwadi services with dedicated crèche facilities. This approach aims to holistically address the needs of both mothers and children in one convenient location.
  • Stand-alone creches: The crèches which were running under the erstwhile National Creche Scheme have been included as Stand Alone Creches.