Second wave has hit children harder, more abandoned

NGOS SAY THAT MOST CASES WERE REPORTED FROM RURAL BELTS WHICH COULD BE ATTRIBUTED TO A RISE IN COVID-19 CASES IN THESE AREAS

NOIDA: Requests for child rescue and shelter are on the rise in Gautam Budh Nagar as Covid-19 cases and deaths surged in April, according to data from the district Childline.

There had been 21 requests for rescue and four for shelter in April this year compared to just eight rescue requests and no shelter requests in April 2020.

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 and 121 deaths.

In just four months this year, the numbers were already catching up with the first wave in nine months (April to December) of 2020.

In the first wave, there had been 25 shelter requests and 196 rescue calls. Till April this year, there have been nine shelter requests and 124 rescue calls.

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

“Most of these cases are related to children being abandoned by families,” said Satya Prakash, programme manager, FXB Suraksha India, the NGO managing the district Childline.

“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 of abuse from children. At least five cases have already come to our attention in the last two months,” said Prakash. “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.”

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 8 years 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.