Mumbai Mobile Crèches, India

Key Facts

Over 50,000 children live on construction sites in Mumbai.
These children have no support systems for safety, health and education.
Mumbai Mobile Crèches has reached out to over 150,000 children providing health and education services.

MMC’s Response

Mumbai Mobile Crèches (MMC) have been running day care centres for children of migrant workers on construction sites since 1972. These child development centres are set up on the construction site itself, in finished or unused rooms allotted by the builder and are run by specially trained staff. There is a crèches for the under three’s, a preschool for the three to five year olds, a bridge course to support older children and an after-school programme to assist children with their homework and studies. Nutritious lunches and snacks are served every day and doctors visit weekly to monitor the children’s growth and ensure their basic good health.

The centres also trains women from these communities to become teachers so that they can run centres themselves. The idea is for MMC to be a demonstration model of quality childcare for construction sites across India.