Child Sponsorship plan: State doles out Rs 10L for each district
Kolkata: The state government has earmarked a fund of Rs 10 lakh each for 23 districts in state for 'Child Sponsorship' which has gained reasonable momentum from this year.
According to statistics of the state Women and Child Development department, in the current year the state received application for 687 sponsorships against 166 in the financial year 2017-18.
Under Section 45 of Juvenile Justice (JJ) Act 2015 the department provides Rs 2,000 a month to the parents or family members of a child so that he/she can stay at their own residences rather than in child care homes run by the state or any NGO. The main purpose of child sponsorship is to ensure that more children can live with their parents as he/ she grows up in the best possible manner under parental care.
"We are equipped to arrange for 943 Child Sponsorships in the state. An average quota of 40 sponsorships have been marked for each district. All the districts have already given us their lists," said Shashi Panja, Minister of state for Women and Child Development.
The maximum sponsorship cases were received from South 24-Parganas, which stands at 58. This is followed by West Midnapore with 46 sponsorship applications. Cooch Behar has submitted 41 applications while East Midnapore, Alipurduar and Murshidabad has applied for 40 each.
The other districts have submitted less than 40 applications. There are two types of scholarships — preventive and rehabilitative. The state Women and Child Development department has a committee in the district-level that is headed by District Social Welfare Officer who examines certain terms and conditions before release of funds under Child Sponsorship.
The money is provided for a period of three years, which can be extended depending on circumstances. Among other conditions, it is a prerequisite that the family income of the beneficiary should not exceed 1.2 lakhs.
A senior official of the department informed that parents sometimes shun their child citing economic constraints or when a child is physically-challenged with leprosy, HIV or similar conditions. If a child faces sexual abuse or is rescued after being trafficked or after being subjected to child labour parents refuse to accept their child. "There have been cases when parents have refused to accept their child even after he/she is rehabilitated after staying at child care homes. This financial assistance is gradually yielding fruits and children are getting the opportunity to live with their own parents," the official added.
The centre and state has 60: 40 share of funds under Child Sponsorship.
