By Aminul Islam Mirja
NEW DELHI, June 03, 2021 (BSS) – The coronavirus pandemic that continues to wreak havoc across India, left thousands of children orphan as they lost their parents due to the most contagious Covid-19 infection.
The virus has shattered their families and left them vulnerable in society although the Indian government had promised to help orphaned children with ensuring their food, clothes, shelter and security.
According to a data collected by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a total of 1,742 children became orphans while 140 were abandoned. Children who lost either of their parents were 7,464.
This data, which was collected from March 2020 to May 29, 2021, was uploaded on the web portal by 25 states and five union territories (UTs) in India.
According to India’s child right commission and NGO sources, more than 2000 Covid orphans were identified in Uttar Pradesh, the most populous state in India.
Among those, 200 children had lost both of their parents and 1,800 children lost one of their parents. However, Madhya Pradesh has reported 318 orphans and Bihar 292.
The states of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh reported more than 100 orphans during the period from March 2020 till May 29, 2021.
Meanwhile, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced measures to help orphaned children, with a fund of around $13,970 (£9,852) set aside for each child. This will be given to them as a stipend from the ages of 18-23, officials said here recently.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday announced that his government will extend financial support to families which have lost their earning members to the coronavirus and also bear the cost of education and upbringing of children orphaned by the pandemic.
“I know many children who have lost both their parents. I want to tell them that I am still there. Do not consider yourself an orphan. The government will take care of their studies and upbringing,” Kejriwal said.
India’s Minister for Women and Child Welfare Smirti Irani recently tweeted that both parents of at least 577 children had died with coronavirus between April 1 and May 25. But experts have contradicted with the figure saying this number is likely a significant “underestimate”.
As with the national picture, the real number is probably higher, Dr Preeti Verma, a member of the State’s Child Welfare Commission told media recently.
Talking about physical and mental health of the traumatized children, a senior child psychologist and behavioral consultant in India said that “in today’s situation it has become all too common that children are confronted with the death of their parents”.
“The orphaned children may face unique challenges and the social isolation, institutional strain, and economic struggles caused by the pandemic might make them feel aloof and unsupported,” Dr. Bhavna Barmi told media.
She suggested to proactively connect all children to the available supports they are entitled to, like social security, child survivor benefits and stressed on a national effort to identify and provide counselling and related resources to all orphaned children.
India has strict adoption laws – every state has a child protection and welfare commission which appoints officials in districts. A number of NGOs also help the commissions in identifying children who are at risk.
According to Union Health Ministry data, India today recorded 1,65,553 new COVID-19 cases during the last 24 hours taking the country’s infection tally to 2,78,94,800.
However, the death toll due to the disease climbed to 3,25,972 in the country with 3,460 fatalities being recorded in a span of 24 hours, the data updated at 8 am showed.