Karnataka State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW) was constituted in 1955, and was registered as a society in 1961 as the erstwhile Mysore State Council for Child Welfare. In 1989-90 this autonomous non-profit organization got its present name. Being a state wing of the Indian Council for Child Welfare, its jurisdiction covers the whole state while it gets its funds from the Department of Women and Child Development, Ministry of Human Resources. 

Creches
KSCCW runs 52 creches of which 23 are in Bangalore (urban and rural) while the rest are in the districts of Tumkur, Dharwad, Davangere, Chikmagalur, Bellary, Kolar and Bijapur.  Of the 23 being run in Bangalore, 13 of them are run directly, while the remaining are in collaboration with other NGOs.  The crèches have an average of 25-30 children, 2 ½ to 6 years, and are run from 9.30 to 3.00.  One creche at Yelahanka maintains a different set of timings for the convenience of the workers of the tiles factory.  Each crèche has a teacher and a helper to run pre-school education and to provide the mid-day meal.
The minimum qualification for the teacher is 10th Std and the balsevika training. Every year, it conducts a 3-day meeting of all its crèche teachers to develop new skills and train them. Meetings with parents are held regularly to educate them about the children’s health, nutrition and related child development issues.  Parents make a small monthly contribution to the crèche. The location of the crèche is based on the minimum number of 30 children, the number of working mothers, and the availability of a free building to house the crèche.  
After the child leaves the crèche, KSCCW continues to do home visits and follows up the child’s progress until he/she goes to 4th Std.

Training
KSCCW runs the Balsevika Training Institute (BSTI).  The balsevika training is a 10-month course designed to train young women, 18-35 years, to become skilled child welfare workers specially trained to serve the underprivileged sections of society.  Each year about 45-50 women are trained in child development, pre-school education, social work, health and nutrition and other related subjects. The trainees also go through field training to learn community living and communication at the grassroot level. When they complete the course, they get employed as preschool educators, community organizers and crèche workers. The course is conducted with a staff of three instructors and one accountant.

Under the World Bank funded UDISHA scheme promoted by the Department of Women and Child Development, Karnataka Government, KSCCW runs 10 of the 24 Anganwadi Training Centres (ATC) in the state.  Apart from the ATC run in its own premises in Bangalore, KSCCW has ATCs in the 10 districts of Anekal, Kanakapura, Mysore, Madikeri, Gulbarga, Davangere, Shimoga, Kadur and Tumkur.  It conducts a quarterly 45-day residential Job Training Course (JTC) for 35 new anganwadi workers, and a 15-day refresher course every two years for 50 working anganwadi workers.  It also conducts an orientation course for anganwadi helpers.  Each center has seven staff, three of whom are full-time teaching instructors.

Partnerships
KSCCW’s network lies in its association with its collaborators in running the crèches.  It is also a member of Karnataka Forces.  It conducts several awareness programmes in the form of campaigns and street plays.  In March 2003, the Balsevikas held a campaign about the girl child; and in 2001, it conducted a nutrition exhibition along with a campaign to spread awareness on nutrition.  In association with the Asha Foundation and the Freedom Foundation, it has conducted awareness on AIDS in the Bhuvaneswari and Ulsoor slums. It has participated in the government’s pulse polio programme.

Projects undertaken in the past
From 1995 to April 2003, KSCCW ran mobile crèches.  These crèches were run at the construction site and moved whenever the construction company shifted – Koramangala, Lavelle Road, Shantinagar.  They were run in collaboration with other NGOs. The crèches closed when the collaborations ceased. KSCCW provided the staff to take care of the children.          

In 1996-97 it participated in the Indian Population Programme (IPP) funded by the Bangalore Mahanagara Palike by running two crèches – one in Yelahanka and the other in Bagalur. The local Primary Health Centre was attached to the crèche and it took care of the mothers and the children.  These crèches were later merged with KSCCW’s crèche scheme.

KSCCW’s strength in resources is its personnel who provide training on pre-school education for crèche teachers of other NGOs on request.  It also has a library with books on child welfare.  

KSCCW plans to increase the number of crèches in the districts and rural Bangalore.  It also plans to conduct more frequent training programmes for its crèche teachers and have an annual one-day training programme for the helpers.
It would welcome help in the form of volunteers, usable toys and donations to its door-to-door provision scheme where people are encouraged to donate any kind of grains.  Donations in cash are also accepted.

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