New Delhi, [31th October] Today at the Annual Childcare Champion Awards championed by FORCES and Mobile Creches, Actress, anchor and fitness enthusiast Mandira Bedi joined hands to celebrate the International Day of Care & Support.
Mandira will help raise awareness about the importance of nurturing care in the first six years of every child—a period that lays the foundation for a child’s lifelong learning, health, and wellbeing.
“Every child deserves care that builds their future, not chance that shapes it,” said Mandira Bedi. “As a mom, I know the first six years define everything that follows. But millions of parents in India do not have the support systems they need to give their children that nurturing care. Through Mobile Creches, I hope to help raise the right kind of awareness about care is not being a privilege; but a right”.
As a mother and adoptive parent, Mandira embodies empathy and resilience. Her journey, both personal and public, aligns deeply with Mobile Creches’ mission to make care visible, valued, and supported across India.
“Mandira represents the modern Indian parent—aware, compassionate, and willing to use her voice for the next generation,” said Sumitra Mishra CEO of Mobile Creches. “Her association with us on International Day of Care marks a milestone in building public consciousness around nurturing care and shared responsibility for India’s youngest citizens. The only way to protect India’s future and achieve a Viksit Bharat by 2047 is to nurture our youngest citizens”.
The Early Years Crisis
By 2030, India will have an estimated 164.5 million children under the age of six. Despite that wide array of national policies and schemes, childcare continues to be deprioritized.
Research from Mobile Creches’ Landscape and Political Economy Study of Childcare along with Sambodhi, a global advisory and research organization dedicated to promoting evidence-based solutions for complex global issues reveals that:
- Less than one in three children in India under 3 years has access to any form of early learning or care.
- Childcare is often treated as unpaid domestic work, resting solely on women, resulting in low public investment and weak political attention.
- By 2030 India will need
- Childcare Centres Required (by 2030): Approximately 2.6 million childcare services are needed.
- Childcare Workers Needed (by 2030): An estimated 5.2 million trained childcare workers are required.
- Public Spending on ECCE (Early Childhood Care & Education): India’s current public spending on (ECCE) remains critically low, hovering around 0.1% of GDP annually.
- Recommended ECCE Spending: International organizations recommend countries invest at least 1% of GDP in ECCE. Alternative projections suggest India needs 1.5-2.5% of GDP.
The Power of Nurturing Care
Nurturing care—defined by responsive caregiving, early learning, safety, nutrition, and health—is not just a parenting ideal but an essential component of nation-building.
Countries that invest in early childhood care have stronger human capital, higher female workforce participation, and lower inequality.
Despite proven global evidence that every ₹1 invested in early childhood yields up to ₹13 in returns through improved education, health, and productivity outcomes, funding and systemic prioritization remain inadequate
