Lok Sabha Question No. 3127 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-08-06
Subject: Overcrowding of Childcare Institutions
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Rita Bahuguna Joshi

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3127 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6.08.2021

## OVERCROWDING OF CHILDCARE INSTITUTIONS

3127.   SHRIMATI RITA BAHUGUNA JOSHI:

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

- (a) whether as per the recent reports, 9,346 children have lost at least one of the parents to the deadly virus, including over 1,700 who have lost both their parents, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether  the  Government  has  taken  adequate  steps  for  the  care  and  protection  of  the affected children;
- (c) if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the steps taken by the Government to check the overcrowding of child care institutions for ensuring compliance of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in these institution?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (d):  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 Annexed .

The children  in  distress  situations  merit  care  and  protection  under  the  provisions  of  the  Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The Act and Rules made thereunder mandate a safety net of service delivery structures along with institutional and non-institutional care for these children. The Ministry  is  implementing  a  Centrally  Sponsored  Scheme  namely  Child  Protection Services  (CPS)  in  partnership  with  the  State  Governments/UT  Administrations  for  delivering  the institutional and non-institutional care as stipulated under the JJ Act. As per the scheme guidelines, maintenance grant of Rs.2000/- per child per month is available for non-institutional care of children in need of care and protection along with the provision maintenance grant of Rs.2160/- per child per month for Children living in Child care Institutions.

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 feed the data regarding a child who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry has asked States and UTs 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. The Ministry has also issued advisories and guidelines for encouraging COVID appropriate behaviour, monitoring of Child Care Institutions and coping strategies during COVID times for mental health support to children and care givers.  A guideline providing a responsibility matrix defining the role of primary duty holders has also been shared with the States/UTs.

## Annexure to  part  (a)  to  (d)  of  Lok  Sabha  Unstarred  Question  No.3127  for 6.08.2021 raised by Shrimati Rita Bahuguna Joshi regarding 'Overcrowding of Childcare Institutions'.

## 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:

| S. No.   | State/UT                       |   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 |