Education Min assures aid to COVID-orphaned children to ensure education continuity

On Friday, June 18, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, Union Cabinet Minister for Education, took to Twitter and announce that the Department of School Education & Literacy, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development are determined to provide the necessary support to children who lost one or both the parents to COVID-19. Several hundreds of cases of COVID-19 orphaned children in the country stare at an uncertain future. 

Dr Ramesh informed, "In addition to PM Cares, to ensure continuity of education, efforts are made to bring such children into the fold of the various schemes being run by the Department of School Education & Literacy". He further stated, "I humbly request the authorities of the States/UTs to take action in identifying such children and provide them with the necessary support within one month". 

Statistical count of orphaned children in India

In early June, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has informed the Supreme Court that the COVID-19 pandemic has orphaned 1742 children, and 7464 children lost at least one parent due to Coronavirus infections. The NCPCR informed the court that the number of children in need of care and protection due to COVID is 9346, including 140 abandoned children. 

There are so many stories of children being isolated from their parents forever. So many children aren't even aware to understand why their parents are taking so long to come home. 

The Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), a statutory body under the Ministry of Women & Child Development, is responsible for overseeing adoptions across the country. The body has framed exhaustive guidelines that govern the process of adoption in the country. But, India's adoption rates are low, only 3,351 children were adopted in the year to March 2020, while tens of thousands were orphaned. Also, adoption comes with the threat of child trafficking, often in the form of social media messages calling for the direct adoption of children. 

PM Cares Fund

Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced measures to help orphaned children, with a fund of around $13,970 set aside for each child. This will be given to them as a stipend from the ages of 18-23. 

(Image credit: ANI/PTI)