As per the Pune district collectorate information, Pune district has reported that 2,228 children in the district have lost either one parent or both parents due to Covid-19. Of these, 2,226 need care and protection as per the administration’s analysis.
In the past 20 months, the administration has been looking out for kids who have now become homeless or dependent on the administration due to the Covid infection. Of these 2,228, 74 have lost both parents, 288 have lost only their mother and 1,867 have lost their father.
Back in June, Aaditya Thackeray, cabinet minister of tourism and environment for the government of Maharashtra, had promised that the state would provide ₹five lakh of fixed deposit and would also take responsibility for the child’s education through the various child welfare schemes of the state.
However, the fixed deposit scheme is now applicable to only those kids who lost both their parents to Covid. Therefore, of the 74 kids who were eligible through the scheme, 19 have already got the amount deposited in their account.
Ashwini Kamble, women and child welfare department (WCD) officer for the district, said, “We had received 2,769 names of which we could verify 2,228 names of the kids who lost their parent to the infection. Of the total, 14 kids are admitted in homes and orphanages. We have distributed the forms to open fixed deposit account in case of 51 kids of which 43 forms have already been submitted to the collector’s office and in case of 19 kids the fixed deposit account has already been opened as joint account under the name of the child and the district WCD officer. The scheme is only eligible for kids who lost both parents and for the other kids we are awaiting budget allocation and accordingly they would also get coverage.”
{{/usCountry}}Ashwini Kamble, women and child welfare department (WCD) officer for the district, said, “We had received 2,769 names of which we could verify 2,228 names of the kids who lost their parent to the infection. Of the total, 14 kids are admitted in homes and orphanages. We have distributed the forms to open fixed deposit account in case of 51 kids of which 43 forms have already been submitted to the collector’s office and in case of 19 kids the fixed deposit account has already been opened as joint account under the name of the child and the district WCD officer. The scheme is only eligible for kids who lost both parents and for the other kids we are awaiting budget allocation and accordingly they would also get coverage.”
{{/usCountry}}For other kids too, the administration has verified the names of 1,089 kids through home visits. She said, “We are in touch with the kids to resolve multiple issues be it with regards to school fees admission, college admission and also property related or loan issues.”