Just two days before the inauguration of a crèche in the Supreme Court of India, a controversy has arisen by virtue of a petition filed in the Supreme Court by a lady lawyer pointing out various deficiencies in the system and problems that may arise and hamper the best utilisation of the crèche. By virtue of the petition filed in the Supreme Court, the registry has issued a notice delaying the inauguration of the crèche.
As reported by Tilak Marg on 9th January pursuant to a discussion between the SCBA president and the Chief Justice of India Shri H.L. Dattu, the Chief Justice had informed the SCBA about the opening of a crèche in the Supreme Court for the benefit of the lady members of the bar.
The crèche was to be inaugurated on 1 July 2015 that is on the first day of re-opening of the court after the summer vacations of the year 2015.
The petitioner Anindita Pujari has contended in the petition filed by her that the Supreme Court should be providing with a crèche which would actually serve the purpose for the women lawyers and would help them in balancing both the roles namely, practising their profession in accordance with the fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution and also fulfilling their responsibility as a mother. The petition refers to a notice dated 10 July, put up by the Court which has invited applications for the post of in-charge and helper for the said crèche. The validity of this notice is challenged by the Petitioner on the ground that the notice stipulates the salary of such person to be Rs. 6000. Whereas, according to the rules prevalent in Delhi, the salary of an unskilled worker is Rs. 9048, and therefore the salary as provided in the notice is far less than the normal standards.
The petition also stated that healthy food is a must for children and a crèche must have all the facilities keeping in mind the all-round benefit and welfare of the child and since this crèche does not have facilities to provide meals to the children, the crèche suffers from yet another deficiency.
The petition has further pointed out that the age limit for admission of children into the crèche being only between 6 months to 2 years is arbitrary and would not benefit all the women lawyers, as a child requires proper childhood care till minimum six years of age. The petition also states that limiting the number of children to 10 and the last date of admission to the crèche being 23rd of June is totally arbitrary and against the interests of the lawyers and violative of the principles of equity.
Indira Jaising who has settled the petition, had tweeted:
Supreme Court to inaugurate crèche tomorrow paying less than minimum wage to staff,demanding Rs 5000 pm, only children below 2 allowed entry
— indira jaising (@IJaising) June 30, 2015
It would be pertinent to mention that, recently as reported by the Indian express on the 12 April 2015, the Department of Personnel and Training has proposed that all the ministries should join hands and setup crèches in the government complexes for children of working women employees.
Author’s Take: As pointed out in the petition that the notice dated 10th July has not specified any specialised knowledge and experience for the vacant positions in the Crèche, I personally believe that the said notice is also not adhering to the Rajiv Gandhi National crèche’s scheme for the children of working mothers. There are various standards set in the aforementioned scheme formulated by the Government of India, which include the training of people working in the crèche. The said scheme also makes provision for facilities to provide meals to the children. It also provides for weekly visits by the doctors. Thus, the author feels that the petition has been timely filed and requisite action should be taken by the Supreme Court and other responsible authorities.
