HC issues creche guidelines to host kids aged 6 months to 5 yrs
Times of India | 10 February 2026
Kolkata: Children aged 6 months to 5 years of Calcutta HC staff, lawyers and litigants will be accommodated in the creche facility on the HC premises, as per a guideline issued recently. The creche area will also have a separate breastfeeding section. According to the guidelines, children suffering from any disease or allergy will not be permitted.
The creche will be functional from 10.30 am to 6 pm on working days, excluding weekends, declared holidays and court vacations. There will be no admission fee for daily service, but for monthly service it is specified as Rs 1,000 for admission, Rs 1,500 for the care fee per month in advance, and Rs 100 per day for daily service. The creche shall admit up to a maximum of four children, on a first-come-first-served basis. These directions came pursuant to the orders of the HC in Jan to make the creche functional within 30 days.
Parents will have to sign a drop-and-pick-up register, produce the child's birth certificate and provide an emergency number. The child can be collected by authorised persons with valid identification only. Parents will have to supply food, milk, nappies, spare clothes and medicines. Information bands for children are mandatory, and CCTVs will be checked daily. Parents are barred from remaining inside except during drop-off, pick-up and feeding.
The staff in the creche will include a medical officer, a trained nurse as and when required, two caregivers or ayahs, a creche-in-charge, an assistant creche-in-charge, two administrative officers and two security personnel —male and female.
A PIL was filed by three lawyers of Calcutta HC in 2019. The matter was first taken up by the then CJ Thottathil B Radhakrishnan and Justice Arijit Banerjee on Dec 8, 2020. They were informed that a room on the fourth floor of the sesquicentenary building was designated for the creche. However, due to the unavailability of trained attendants and paediatricians, the facility could not operate.
On Aug 9, 2021, the then acting CJ Rajesh Bindal and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj were informed the health secretary has sanctioned one post of pediatrician along with supporting staff nurse and nodal officer for the creche to be opened in HC premises. In the same year, it was informed that though arrangements have been made, certain guidelines need to be framed for using the facility.
It was then pointed out by the PIL makers that creche facilities are required in all the court complexes in the districts and sub-divisions. The HC administration was asked to present a data on whether district courts have creche facilities, which came out to be negative in case of most districts.