Second crèche facility opens at women’s police station in Noida
NOIDA: The Gautam Budh Nagar police established its second daycare centre for children of women police officers at the Women Police station at Sector 39 in Noida on Friday. Another such facility is operational at the Police Lines in Surajpur and around 25-30 children of police officers visit the centre on a regular basis.
It was September 2021 when the farmers’ agitation at Noida authority office in Sector 6 called for heavy police deployment in the area round the clock. Amid that, it was Ankita Sharma, assistant commissioner of police, Noida-1, who noticed that the women police officers were forced to bring their young children to the agitation site as there was no place for them to leave them.
“The farmers’ agitation went
on for months during which a majority of women police officers were deployed because a lot of the protesters were also women. In the middle of this, officers who are mothers, did not have any other option but to bring their young kids with them. Since the only day care facility is located in Surajpur, there was a need for a similar facility for Noida city as well,” said Sharma.
Sharma soon raised the issue with Vrinda Shukla, deputy commissioner of police (women’s security), who then raised the matter to Akanksha Singh, president of Police Family Welfare Association.
“In January this year, the day care facility at the Women’s Police Station was conceptualised and with the help of a private firm, we have been able to establish the same on the auspicious eighth day of Navratri,” said Shukla.
“The already-operational day care facility at Surajpur is running with utmost enthusiasm with two women constables appointed there as well. We are sure that this facility will also be beneficial to all women police officers in the Noida city area,” said Singh.
Adding a dash of colour and cheerfulness to the police station, the facility will run round the clock and two women constables will look after the children. Children up to the age of 10 years can be left at the centre.