Lok Sabha Question No. 1965 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: Protection Of Covid Affected Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Kuruva Gorantla Madhav, Chinta Anuradha, T.R.V.S. Ramesh, Beesetti  Venkata Satyavathi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1965

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2021

## PROTECTION OF COVID AFFECTED CHILDREN

1965.   SHRI KURUVA GORANTLA MADHAV: SHRIMATI CHINTA ANURADHA: SHRI T.R.V.S. RAMESH:

DR. BEESETTI VENKATA SATYAVATHI:

Will the Minister of WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has issued any directions to State Governments to ensure Care  and  protection  of  Children  adversely  impacted  by  COVID-19,  as  mandated under the JJ Act,2015;.
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Government has maintained a data base of the number of Children who were severely affected by the pandemic; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof, State-wise?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) to (d):  The Ministry has asked all the States/UTs to ensure that all the children in need of care and protection are reported to the respective Child Welfare Committee and rehabilitated in accordance with the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 (JJ Act). The  States and UTs have also been asked to take immediate action for care  and  protection  of  children  adversely  impacted  by  COVID  19,  in  accordance  with  the provisions  of  the  JJ  Act  2015  and  Rules  thereunder,  while  leveraging  the  facilities  funded under  the  Child  protection  Services  scheme.  Advisories  and  guidelines  were  issued  to encourage  COVID  appropriate  behavior,  monitoring  of  Child  Care  Institutions  and  coping strategies  during  COVID  times  for  mental  health  support  to  children  and  care  givers.  A responsibility  matrix  defining  role  of  primary  duty  holders  at  all  levels  from  State  to Panchayati Raj Institutions was also shared with States/UTs.As per information provided by States/UTs, data of orphan children who have lost their parents to Covid since April 2021 to 28.05.2021, is as per Annexure.

Hon'ble PM has announced PM CARES for children scheme to support children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme provides support for education and health and will create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age. This corpus will be used to give a monthly financial support/ stipend form 18 years of age, for the next 5 years to take care  of  his  or  her  personal  requirements  during  the  period  of  higher  education  and  on reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal  and  professional use.  The  scheme  is  accessible  through  an  online  portal i.e. pmcaresforchildren.in. The  portal  has  been  introduced  to  all  the  States  and  UTs  on 15.07.21.  Any  Citizen  can  inform  the  administration  regarding  a  child  eligible  for  support under this scheme through the portal.

Annexure  to  part  (a)  to  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.1965  for 30.07.2021 by Shri Kuruva Gorantla Madhav, Shrimati Chinta Anuradha, Shri T. R. V. S.  Ramesh  and  Dr.  Beesetti  Venkata  Satyavathi regarding  'Protection  of  Covid Affected Children'.

As per information provided by States/UTs data of orphan children who have lost their parents to Covid since April 2021 to 28.05.2021 is as follows:

| Sl. No.   | Name of State                  |   No. of orphaned children |
|-----------|--------------------------------|----------------------------|
| 1         | A&N Island                     |                          0 |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                 |                        119 |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh              |                          0 |
| 4         | Assam                          |                          3 |
| 5         | Bihar                          |                          0 |
| 6         | Chandigarh                     |                          0 |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh                   |                         16 |
| 8         | Dadra Nagar Haveli & Daman Diu |                          2 |
| 9         | Delhi                          |                          1 |
| 10        | Goa                            |                          0 |
| 11        | Gujarat                        |                         45 |
| 12        | Haryana                        |                          0 |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh               |                         13 |
| 14        | J&K                            |                          8 |
| 15        | Jharkhand                      |                         11 |
| 16        | Karnataka                      |                         09 |
| 17        | Kerala                         |                         09 |
| 18        | Ladakh                         |                          0 |
| 19        | Lakshadweep                    |                          0 |
| 20        | Madhya Pradesh                 |                         73 |
| 21        | Maharashtra                    |                         83 |
| 22        | Manipur                        |                          1 |
| 23        | Meghalaya                      |                          1 |
| 24        | Mizoram                        |                          0 |
| 25        | Nagaland                       |                          0 |
| 26        | Odisha                         |                         10 |
| 27        | Puducherry                     |                          2 |
| 28        | Punjab                         |                         20 |
| 29        | Rajasthan                      |                         19 |
| 30        | Sikkim                         |                          0 |
| 31        | Tamil Nadu                     |                          8 |
| 32        | Telangana                      |                         23 |
| 33        | Tripura                        |                          0 |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh                  |                        158 |
| 35        | Uttarakhand                    |                          8 |
| 36        | West Bengal                    |                          3 |
|           | Total                          |                        645 |