The PMO has written to the Women and Child Development Ministry asking for the number of government-run creches to be increased.
When an infant and a toddler were raped in Delhi in October, the incidents not only hit international headlines but also became fodder for politics between the Centre and State. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying that his government administered Delhi Police couldn't keep little girls safe.
NDTV has now learnt that the episode spurred the Prime Minister's Office to turn to an old scheme called Rajiv Gandhi National Creche Scheme. The PMO wrote to the Women and Child Development Ministry to increase the number of government funded creches in the country. At the moment, there are only 22,000 such creches, nationally.
"Both the little girls who were sexually assaulted were unattended," said a senior official of the ministry. "The PMO felt that if creches were increased, children of working mothers would be much safer."
The consultation paper has now been readied, less than a month after it was asked for and will be sent to PM Modi's office soon.
The paper notes how creches were made a necessity by various laws like MNREGA and Mines Act but no one bothered about implementing this clause. "The reason why the number of women employed by MNREGA is low is because there is no place mothers can leave children," said one person associated with the paper.
The Delhi sexual assaults of children were a tragedy of unspeakable proportions but the government is hoping the creches will provide long term prevention.