'Over 30K children orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned due to Covid'
New Delhi: As many as 30,071 children were orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic as per data submitted by different states till June 5, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court on Monday.
Of the total, 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,621 have been orphaned and 274 have been abandoned, the NCPCR.
The Commission further said the state-wise data received regarding children who have lost either their mother or father or both parents from April 1, 2020, to June 5, 2021, irrespective of their reason of death (not only death due to COVID-19), was uploaded on its 'Bal Swaraj' portal and collated by it. It said Maharashtra has been worst affected with 7,084 children being orphaned, abandoned or have lost a parent mostly to the deadly virus since April 1 last year.
In its affidavit filed in the suo motu matter taken up by the Apex Court, the NCPCR said other states where children are most affected include Uttar Pradesh (3,172), Rajasthan (2,482), Haryana (2,438), Madhya Pradesh (2,243), Andhra Pradesh (2,089), Kerala (2,002), Bihar (1,634) and Odisha (1,073).
Meanwhile, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that it needed some more time to apprise the court of the modalities on the recently launched 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme for kids orphaned by COVID-19.
A bench of Justices L N Rao and Aniruddha Bose was informed by Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, that they are in consultation with states and ministries to work out the modalities of the 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme.
"We need some more time to apprise the court about the modalities of the scheme as the consultation is still going on. We have made District Magistrates directly responsible for the children who have been abandoned or have been orphaned," Bhati said. The Bench said it is inclined to give some more time to the Centre to formulate the modalities of the scheme and how they will implement it.
