Over 5,000 children in Maharashtra lost parents to Covid-19, state announces scheme

As many as 5,331 children in Maharashtra have lost at least one parent over the past 14 months, due to the Covid-19 pandemic

As many as 5,331 children in Maharashtra have lost at least one parent over the past 14 months, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Of them, 162 have lost both their parents while 4,481 have lost their fathers and 691 lost their mother to Covid-19. In view of this, the state government on Wednesday announced a special scheme for such children. Under this scheme, they will get a certain amount of money on attaining 21 years of age.

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Taking cognisance of social media posts about illegal adoption of the children orphaned due to the Covid-19 infection and acting on the Supreme Court’s direction, the state had formed district-wise task forces to identify such children last month. The task forces, over the past four weeks, have identified the children who have lost one or both parents. The counting is still going on and the number of affected children could go up, according to state officials.

The state cabinet on Wednesday gave nod to the special scheme where ₹5 lakh will be deposited in the name of the children who have lost both their parents in the form of fixed deposit. When these children turn 21, the money along with the interest accrued will be transferred to their bank accounts.

Children who have lost both or one parent after March 1, 2020 due to Covid-19 will be eligible for the scheme.

Woman and child welfare minister Yashomati Thakur said the state will take full responsibility of the children. “Twelve of the children who have lost both their parents have been brought to the child care institutions (CCI). The government machinery will be in constant touch with the children who are under kinship parenting of their relatives to ensure their well-being. The financial aid given under Bal Sangopan Scheme will also be hiked to ₹2,500 soon,” she said.

The minister also said that the government is extending the age limit to 23 years to allow these children to stay in CCI and added that such children will be given skill development training so that they can stand on their feet.

Bhandara district leads in the chart with 507 children losing one parent, while the number is 464 in Pune and 431 in Solapur. Mumbai has 159, Thane has six, and Aurangabad has 331 children who have lost at least one parent. The highest number of children who lost both their parents is from Solapur at 21.

District administrations with the help of child welfare committees (CWC) help such children with counselling, fixing responsibility of their parenting to relatives, as well as ensuring financial aid, custody to CCIs and legal adoption, if needed.

“As the basic principle of the Juvenile Justice Act (JJ Act), we prefer the custody to remain with extended family. Family care is important for their upbringing. Such children in custody with relatives, such as uncle or grandparents, are given financial assistance of ₹1,125 per month under our Bal Sangopan scheme. In case such custody in the extended family is not possible, the children are brought to CCIs by following due process,” said an official from the department.

Dr Vijay Khomane, woman and child welfare officer of Solapur district, said, “The number of such children in our district is high for two reasons — first, the district has reported a high number of Covid-19 deaths and second, we have rigorously identified the children. The children were traced up to village level by obtaining names of people who died due to Covid-19 over the past 14 months. The children who have lost both their parents will be brought before CWC before deciding on their possession, and assistance to be extended to them,” he said.

Child rights activist Santosh Shinde said the state should endure guardianship properly. “We welcome the scheme launched by the government, but there should be proper monitoring of these children at least for the next 10 years. We have witnessed in many such previous natural calamities including the earthquake of Latur, that the children in kinship parenting face hardships. There are cases of trafficking of girls orphaned due to such calamities. There are cases of bogus beneficiaries in Bal Sangopan scheme and its repetition should be avoided while extending it to these children,” he said.