Surat: Generally, kids feel scared when they see police personnel. But at the daycare centre in pandesara GIDC area, the scene is different. Here, the kids seem to have developed a healthy rapport with police personnel.
The 30-odd kids at the centre cheer and rush to meet their “Didi”, the woman PSI, when she comes in. J R Desaithe in-charge of SHE team of Pandesara police station, has got the responsibility to look after the kids at the daycare centre. The centre is run by the police with the help of Pandesara Industrial Association.
Pandesara is an industrial area and a large number of people who have migrated from different parts of the country live here to earn their livelihood. Many migrant couples go to work, putting their kids alone at home. Many a times, these kids go missing and sometimes some of them fall victims to child-related crimes.
To prevent crime against children and to protect them from predators, city police commissioner Ajay Drink recently came up with an idea of starting daycare centres for the kids of these migrant labourers. After holding meetings with local industrial associations, the first daycare centre was made functional in Sachin GIDC area. A few days later, in December 2021, the centre at Pandesara started.
“In most families, both the parents go to work and their minor children are left alone at home for a long time. There are chances that these minors become victims of predators. Hence, we are starting the daycare centres to take care of these children,” said Tomar.
The Pandesara centre runs at Udhyog Bharti Vidyalaya at Pandesara GIDC. Pandesara police inspector A P Chaudhary said, “It is our commissioner Sir’s initiative that we started this centre and when we contacted the local industrial association, they were more than happy to extend help.”
The association provided a place at association’s school for the centre. This centre runs from 8am to 8pm. With the help of the association, the police provide pickup and drop facilities for the kids. There is an arrangement at the centre to provide the kids education, different activities, and daily meals. Health check-up camps for these kids are also arranged.
“The association of industries in Pandesara is supporting us in the efforts. We are providing pick-up and drop facility to the children and have employed qualified staff at the centre to take care of the kids,” added Tomar. Sub-inspector Desai and her colleague PSI K D Patel say they feel privileged to look after these poor kids. “Now, these children are like our family members. All kids are very talented and very eager to learn new things. About 30 to 50 children come here regularly. It is a big responsibility to take care of the kids and we are happy that we are part of this project from the beginning,” they said.
Pandesara GIDC Industrial Association president Kamal Vijay Tulsian says this is a collective effort. “Our association does many things for the betterment of our workers and this centre is part of it. Now, the parents who work in industry feel safe about their children,’’ he said.
Among the kids at the centre are Aarushi and Vaishnvi. They are cousins and they regularly come to the centre when their parents go to work. “We enjoy food and also study for a few hours here. We don’t have an open place to play near our house but here we can play. The teachers take us to the playground which is behind the school. After coming to this place, we have made so many friends too,” they say joyfully.
The 30-odd kids at the centre cheer and rush to meet their “Didi”, the woman PSI, when she comes in. J R Desaithe in-charge of SHE team of Pandesara police station, has got the responsibility to look after the kids at the daycare centre. The centre is run by the police with the help of Pandesara Industrial Association.
Pandesara is an industrial area and a large number of people who have migrated from different parts of the country live here to earn their livelihood. Many migrant couples go to work, putting their kids alone at home. Many a times, these kids go missing and sometimes some of them fall victims to child-related crimes.
To prevent crime against children and to protect them from predators, city police commissioner Ajay Drink recently came up with an idea of starting daycare centres for the kids of these migrant labourers. After holding meetings with local industrial associations, the first daycare centre was made functional in Sachin GIDC area. A few days later, in December 2021, the centre at Pandesara started.
“In most families, both the parents go to work and their minor children are left alone at home for a long time. There are chances that these minors become victims of predators. Hence, we are starting the daycare centres to take care of these children,” said Tomar.
The Pandesara centre runs at Udhyog Bharti Vidyalaya at Pandesara GIDC. Pandesara police inspector A P Chaudhary said, “It is our commissioner Sir’s initiative that we started this centre and when we contacted the local industrial association, they were more than happy to extend help.”
The association provided a place at association’s school for the centre. This centre runs from 8am to 8pm. With the help of the association, the police provide pickup and drop facilities for the kids. There is an arrangement at the centre to provide the kids education, different activities, and daily meals. Health check-up camps for these kids are also arranged.
“The association of industries in Pandesara is supporting us in the efforts. We are providing pick-up and drop facility to the children and have employed qualified staff at the centre to take care of the kids,” added Tomar. Sub-inspector Desai and her colleague PSI K D Patel say they feel privileged to look after these poor kids. “Now, these children are like our family members. All kids are very talented and very eager to learn new things. About 30 to 50 children come here regularly. It is a big responsibility to take care of the kids and we are happy that we are part of this project from the beginning,” they said.
Pandesara GIDC Industrial Association president Kamal Vijay Tulsian says this is a collective effort. “Our association does many things for the betterment of our workers and this centre is part of it. Now, the parents who work in industry feel safe about their children,’’ he said.
Among the kids at the centre are Aarushi and Vaishnvi. They are cousins and they regularly come to the centre when their parents go to work. “We enjoy food and also study for a few hours here. We don’t have an open place to play near our house but here we can play. The teachers take us to the playground which is behind the school. After coming to this place, we have made so many friends too,” they say joyfully.