Govt Committed To Support Every Child; 577 Children Orphaned Since April 1, 2021: Smriti Irani

Mumbai: Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said citing reports of states and union territories from April 1 till Tuesday, as many as 577 children across the country were orphaned after their parents died to Covid19.

“GOI (government of India) is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child due to the loss of both parents to Covid-19. From 1st April 2021 till 2:00 pm today, the state governments & UTs across the country have reported 577 children whose parents succumbed to Covid-19,” Ms Irani said in a tweet.

https://twitter.com/smritiirani/status/1397213485910700036?s=20

According to senior officials, the Ministry began investigating the issue of Covid orphans after messages for adopting them started flooding social media.

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“We have been in touch with all states and asked them to identify Covid orphans from their districts. We have ascertained, from the data received, that there are currently 577 of them… Delhi, for instance, has one Covid orphan in this period,” an official said.

“We have allotted Rs 10 lakh per district for the non-institutional care of these orphans, which will be distributed by District Magistrates under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme. Our aim is that not even one child slips through the cracks. Our priority, however, is that the children be retained in their family and community structures and not plucked from these set-ups,” a senior official said.

Earlier, the Ministry has written to states asking them to monitor such activity and ensure that these children be produced before District Child Welfare Committees. For cases that the CWC sees fit for adoption, the process is to take place through the Central Adoption Resource Agency.

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