The S Manjubhashini Memorial Seminar which is an annual event was held virtually on 25 March 2023. The topic for this year was ‘The Role of Creches – ECCD and Women’s Welfare’. Ms Sakunthala Sharma, Secretary of Children Garden School Society, delivered the opening remarks about the need for creches, and best practices. This was followed by a video talk by Ms Sridevi Raghavan, Sr.Vice President of the Babilou family (France) about functioning of Creches in Europe as an essential service. Ms Preethi Krishnan, Member of Bala Mandir, made a presentation about Bala Mandir’s Creches. The Mumbai Mobile Creches shared a couple of videos about the work they do for the children of migrant construction workers. The floor was then opened up for discussion, and various participants shared their experiences with running Creches. Ms Lakshmi Nair of Bala Mandir and Suraksha shared about the Creches being run in Nagercoil. Ms Padmaja, CEO of Kanchana Paati also shared her experiences. At the end, Ms Sandhya Maheswari, Assistant Director – Creches, ICDS, Government of Tamil Nadu, talked about the Government’s schemes for ECCD. The open sharing of experiences and ideas by participants made this seminar an interesting, informative and a mutually useful one for all of them.
