Children orphaned during Covid-19 should be covered under welfare schemes: SC

The Supreme Court stressed the need to protect all the children who became orphans during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Supreme Court observed on Tuesday that the Centre's welfare schemes should cover all the children who were orphaned after the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic struck, and not limit its benefit to those kids who lost their parents to the infection.

Covid-19 has a telling effect on children who have lost their parents after the pandemic struck. (Representational photo)

The observarion was made by a two-judge bench of Supreme Court Justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose that was hearing a suo motu case regarding the condition of children in institutionalised care during the pandemic.

The Supreme Court noted that government-run schemes such as PM-Cares Fund, which proposed a corpus of ₹10 lakh for children till they turn 23, covered only those who became oprhans after losing their parents to Covid-19.

Additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati who represented the Centre told the apex court that the PM-Cares scheme covers children who have lost both the parents or the lone surviving parent or the legal guardian.

The counsel said the scheme does not cover a child till he or she attains majority. It takes care of children who would go for higher education, etc and a sum of 10 lakh would be given. "The scheme has been devised for a special mechanism due to the pandemic," Bar and Bench quoted Bhati as saying in a Twitter post.

The Supreme Court told the counsel that while it doesn't seek an extension of any scheme, it is studying how the orphaned children could be given immediate benefits.

Justice Rao said, "The order that we passed covers all children who became orphans during this period and not just due to deaths due to Covid-19."

"What we are thinking is to take care of all children who have been orphaned whether Covid or not Covid. We cannot restrict the orders passed to only orphans who lost both parents to Covid 19", Justice Rao said, according to LiveLaw.in

The bench also pointed out that India is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of Child and, therefore, the country has an obligation to take care of orphans.

The court also stressed the need to ensure that the schemes announced reach the real beneficiaries and not just remain on paper.