The Ministry of Women and Child Development has issued National Minimum Standards and Protocol in 2024 for setting up creches by care service providers, who must comply with government rules, laws and regulations related to child protection and safety. This development supports the Anganwadi cum Creches (Palna) scheme implemented since 1 April 2022, which provides day care creche facilities in safe and secure environments to children aged 6 months to 6 years of all mothers regardless of employment status, along with nutritional support, health and cognitive development, growth monitoring, immunization, and education.
The Palna scheme is centrally sponsored with funding ratios of 60:40 between Centre and State Governments/UTs with legislature, except for North East and Special Category States where the ratio is 90:10. For Union Territories without legislature, 100% funding is provided by the Central Government. The requirement for Anganwadi-cum-Crèche Centres is assessed by respective States/UTs, with proposals approved by the Programme Approval Board after detailed discussions. Currently, 4,172 Anganwadi-cum-Crèches are operational across the country.
On the regulatory front, the Ministry of Labour and Employment confirmed that provisions of the Maternity Benefit Act, 1961 have been subsumed under the Code on Social Security, 2020, which came into effect on 21 November 2025. Section 67 of the Code mandates creche facilities for establishments with 50 or more employees. Enforcement for establishments under the State Sphere is the responsibility of respective State Governments, while the Chief Labour Commissioner (Central) Organisation under the Ministry of Labour and Employment ensures compliance with maternity benefit provisions in establishments under the Central Sphere.