Over 9,300 children lost parents or were abandoned in pandemic- NCPCR to SC

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has said that a 6-step scheme has been devised to monitor the wellbeing of children orphaned due to Covid-19 or those who have lost one parent. In its affidavit filed before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, the Commission has said thatdata of 9,346 affected children have been uploaded on the newly created Bal Swaraj portal, which includes data on 1,742 children who lost both parents, 7,464 now in a single-parent household, 140 have been abandoned from March 2020 to May 29, 2021. 

Out of all these children, 1,224 are now living with a guardian, 985 with a family member who is not designated as a legal guardian, while 6612 are living with a single parent. In addition, 31 children have been sent to the special adoption agency. According to the data submitted to the Supreme Court, the maximum number of orphaned and abandoned children were seen in Madhya Pradesh where 318 children were orphaned and 104 were abandoned. Uttar Pradesh r UP also has the highest number of children in "vulnerable position" with 2,110 children in total who have been orphaned, abandoned or have lost one parent. Bihar has the second-highest number, with 1,327 vulnerable children, including 292 orphaned and 1,035 in single-parent households.ecorded the highest number of children who lost one parent 1,830 children are now living in single-parent households after the death of a parent due to Covid-19.

The NCPCR in its affidavit has also stated that the "Commission is of the opinion that the children who have lost either of the parent to Covid-19 and have been placed with the surviving single parent are also in need of financial assistance and can be entitled to implemented government schemes”. In addition, recommendations have been made by the NCPCR to ensure that the schooling of the children is not affected as far as possible. It has passed the recommendations for the state governments, District Education Officers (DEO) and schools to take appropriate steps to ensure that even for students studying in private schools, the school fee could be borne by the government.