Covid-orphaned children to get Rs 10 lakh each from state, Centre

VIJAYAWADA: Children orphaned due to Covid-19 will now get Rs 20 lakh each as both the Union and state governments have decided to pay Rs 10 lakh each in Andhra Pradesh.

The women development and child welfare officials have carried out a survey to locate Under-18 children, who had lost either a single parent or both to Covid and also non-Covid related issues, from March 2020. They managed to find 7,004 such children. Of them, 315 lost both parents.

Incidentally, 241 children lost both parents to Covid while the pandemic claimed one parent of 5,398 children. The officials found that only 223 were eligible to get financial relief from AP government as  the remaining were not because they did not belong to BPL families or for failing to get the death certificate of their parents.

The state government issued an order in May to provide ex gratia of Rs 10 lakh each as a means to safeguard their future. A district level committee, headed by the district collector, was entrusted the task of verifying the eligibility criteria. The compensation amount will be in fixed deposit in any nationalised bank and the child will get the amount on completion of 25 years of age. The monthly interest will be transferred to the bank account of the beneficiary for meeting everyday expenses.

The state government has so far issued sanction orders to 142 children.

Similarly, the Centre has come up with a specially designed scheme called PM CARES For Children with Rs 10 lakh allocated to each of these children. It will provide monthly financial support to the children once they attain the age of 18 years and mature when they turn 23.

Women development and child welfare officials say that the Centre has clarified that irrespective of the state governments’ financial aid it will provide relief to each orphaned child.

On a comparative basis, in Madhya Pradesh, orphaned children will get only Rs 13 lakh each as the state government announced only Rs 3 lakh relief.

The AP government has issued directions to ensure that all orphaned children will have uninterrupted education and no child will be forced to leave the school because of non-payment of fees. The authorities have identified 4,333 orphaned children with a high dropout potential. Arrangements are being made to counsel children to cope up with the mental trauma and depression.

Women development and child welfare director Kritika Shukla said “We have been instructed to take up regular follow-up visits to homes of orphaned children to enquire about their well-being and ensure that no child is pulled out for any reason, including financial limitations.”