Most kids orphaned by Covid in Bihar, MP

The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has found that the greatest number of children orphaned during the Covid-19 pandemic last year were in Madhya Pradesh, followed by Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.

According to an affidavit filed by the child rights body in the Supreme Court on Monday, 318 children were orphaned between March last year and May 29 this year in Madhya Pradesh. In Bihar, the number of such children was 292, followed by Uttar Pradesh, where the number was 270.

These states were followed by Telangana (123), Andhra Pradesh (103) and Chhattisgarh (102).

The government has introduced several schemes to help such children, including PM CARES For Children where For children who lost both or one parent, the government will create a corpus of ₹10 lakhs in the form of a fixed deposit. This

The Centre has advised all states to launch special drives to issue ration cards under the National Food Security Act 2013 to vulnerable people, especially the homeless, ragpickers and labourers, in view of the pandemic so that they get access to subsided and free grains under various schemes in force.

A letter to all states from

will be used to provide the children a monthly stipend after they turn 18 for five years, “PM CARES will contribute… to create a corpus of ₹10 lakh for each child… This corpus will be used to give a monthly financial support/ stipend from 18 years of their age, for the next five years … and on reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and the Union food ministry on Wednesday states: “It is felt that some of the poor and needy people, who also may not have address proof, may be finding it difficult to obtain a ration card.”

It called for “special drive to reach out to the most vulnerable and economically weakest sections of the population in urban and rural areas”.

professional use,” a statement from the Prime Minister’s office said.

The children’s education will be supported by admission to Kendriya Vidayalas and private schools. They will also be assisted in obtaining education loans for professional courses or as an alternative a scholarship will be provided, equivalent to tuition fees, under cen