Second wave worse for children, shelter and rescue requirements on the rise

Noida: The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is proving worse for children in Gautam Budh Nagar, with requests for rescue and shelter are on the rise, according to data from the district Childline

Noida: The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic is proving worse for children in Gautam Budh Nagar, with requests for rescue and shelter are on the rise, according to data from the district Childline. There have been 21 requests for rescue in April this year compared to eight in April 2020, showed the data.

HT Image

The requests for shelter (temporary rehabilitation) were also higher. There have been four requests for shelter in April this year, while no such request was made in the same month last year, as per the Childline data.

Overall, there were 25 shelter requests and 196 rescue calls between April and December 2020. Till April this year, there have been nine shelter requests and 124 rescue calls. Incidentally, GB Nagar had reported just 100 Covid-19 cases (no death) in April 2020, while the number of positive cases in April this year was 15,232 that included 121 deaths.

“Most of these cases are related to children being abandoned by their families. Just last week, we were informed about an abandoned six-year-old child with special needs. So far no one has come forward for him. However, we are prepared to handle any such cases,” said Satya Prakash, programme manager, FXB Suraksha India, the NGO managing the district Childline.

The experts claim that majority cases are coming from rural belts which can be attributed to a rise in the number of Covid-19 cases in these areas.

“The cases of domestic child abuse are also coming to light now. The initial phases of lockdown saw families enjoying that time. However, now the stress has begun to catch up and we are getting calls for abuse from children. At least five cases have already come to our attention in the last two months,” said Prakash.

During the current lockdown which began from April 30, at least 80 calls (till May 17) related to the poor nutrition of children have been reported.“The pattern of the infections spread across families puts kids in a vulnerable position and we are working to help out as many as possible,” said Prakash.

On April 29, a helpline (9870395200) was issued by the Noida police for volunteers to provide support to children who have either lost their parents to Covid or whose infected families are unable to care for them.

“So far, we have more than 70 volunteers who are ready to provide all sorts of support like medicines, transportation, accommodation and even adoption. We are working on measures to identify beneficiaries specially in rural belts where such cases often go unreported. We will rope in anganwadis and village-level units as well for this,” said Vrinda Shukla, deputy commissioner of police (women and child safety).

The officials said that 10 cases have been reported since April 29 where children were in need of resources. Most of them revolved around food or medicine requirements. “There was one case in Greater Noida where siblings aged 10 and 8years lost their parents to Covid-19. They are now in the care of grandparents and we are working on sponsoring at least their education,” said Shukla.