Lok Sabha Question No. 537 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-02-04
Subject: Orphaned Children
Ministry: WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
Asked by: Margani Bharat

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT

## LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO.537

TO BE ANSWERED ON 04.02.2022

## ORPHANED CHILDREN

## 537.   SHRI MARGANI BHARAT :

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

- (a) whether  NCPCR  has  submitted  an  Affidavit  in  the  Supreme  Court  indicating 30,000 children have been orphaned/lost parent/abandoned during the last one year i.e., between 01-01-2020 and 05-06-2021);
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State-wise;
- (c) whether 1923 children in Andhra Pradesh have been left with only one parent;
- (d) the manner in which the Ministry proposes to help all these children; and
- (e) whether the Government has any proposal for depositing Rs.10 lakhs each in the name  of  these  children  and  interest  earned  thereon  can  be  used  for  their education,  health,  etc.  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  and  if  not,  the  reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

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

(a)   &  (b)  : As  informed  by  the  National  Commission  for  Protection  of  Child  Rights (NCPCR),  an  affidavit has  been  filed before  the  Hon'ble  Supreme  Court  on 06.06.2021 in SMWP(C) No.4/2020 In Re contagion of COVID-19 Virus in Children Protection Homes along with the data of children uploaded on the Bal Swaraj portalCOVID Care link which includes orphaned, single parent and abandoned children is at Annexure-I . The list contains all children whose both or single parent has died due to Covid-19 or other causes.

- (c)  :  Yes Sir, As on 05-6-2021 there were 1923 children left with a single parent in Andhra Pradesh.

(d) & (e) : The PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by The Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 29th May 2021 for the Children. It aims to support children who have lost both the Parents or legal Guardian or Adoptive Parents or Surviving Parent to  COVID-19  pandemic.  The  objective  of  the  Scheme  is  to  ensure  comprehensive care  and protection of  Children  in  a  sustained  manner,  and  enable  their  well  being through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for selfsufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years of age.  The scheme is accessible  through  an  online  portal  i.e. pmcaresforchildren.in .  As  on  03.02.2022, 6654 applications have been uploaded on the portal out of which, 3890 applications have been approved as per procedure.

## ANNEXURE-I

ANNEXURE REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PART (A) & (B) OF THE LOK SABHA UN-STARRED QUESTION NO. 537 FOR 04.02.2022 RAISED BY SHRI MARGANI BHARAT REGARDING ORPHANED CHILDREN

STATE/UT-WISE NUMBER OF CHILDREN WHO HAVE LOST BOTH OR EITHER OF  PARENT  DUE  TO  COVID  OR  HAVE  DIED  BECAUSE  OF  ANY  OTHER REASON FROM APRIL 2020 TO 5 TH  JUNE, 2021

| Sl. No.   | State/UT                             |   Orphan |   Single Parent |   Abandoned | Total   |
|-----------|--------------------------------------|----------|-----------------|-------------|---------|
| 1         | Andaman & Nicobar Islands            |        3 |              40 |           0 | 43      |
| 2         | Andhra Pradesh                       |      166 |            1923 |           0 | 2089    |
| 3         | Arunachal Pradesh                    |        2 |              37 |           0 | 39      |
| 4         | Assam                                |       16 |             255 |           0 | 271     |
| 5         | Bihar                                |      308 |            1326 |           0 | 1634    |
| 6         | Chandigarh                           |        0 |               2 |           0 | 2       |
| 7         | Chhattisgarh                         |      120 |             134 |          11 | 265     |
| 8         | Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu |       10 |              26 |           0 | 36      |
| 9         | Delhi                                |        5 |              12 |           0 | 17      |
| 10        | Goa                                  |        2 |               0 |           0 | 2       |
| 11        | Gujarat                              |       66 |             882 |           1 | 949     |
| 12        | Haryana                              |       84 |            2353 |           1 | 2438    |
| 13        | Himachal Pradesh                     |       98 |             803 |           0 | 901     |
| 14        | Jammu and Kashmir                    |       17 |             467 |           0 | 484     |
| 15        | Jharkhand                            |       30 |             187 |           0 | 217     |
| 16        | Karnataka                            |       99 |             555 |           6 | 660     |
| 17        | Kerala                               |       65 |            1931 |           6 | 2002    |
| 18        | Ladakh                               |        0 |              14 |           0 | 14      |
| 19        | Lakshadweep                          |        0 |               0 |           0 | 0       |
| 20        | Madhya Pradesh                       |      706 |            1311 |         226 | 2243    |
| 21        | Maharashtra                          |      217 |            6865 |           2 | 7084    |
| 22        | Manipur                              |        9 |              44 |           3 | 56      |
| 23        | Meghalaya                            |        5 |              21 |           0 | 26      |
| 24        | Mizoram                              |        0 |              23 |           0 | 23      |
| 25        | Nagaland                             |        6 |              21 |           0 | 27      |
| 26        | Odisha                               |      281 |             832 |           0 | 1113    |
| 27        | Puducherry                           |        2 |              28 |           0 | 30      |
| 28        | Punjab                               |       23 |             160 |           2 | 185     |
| 29        | Rajasthan                            |      671 |            1801 |          10 | 2482    |
| 30        | Sikkim                               |        0 |               6 |           0 | 6       |
| 31        | Tamil Nadu                           |       45 |             757 |           0 | 802     |
| 32        | Telangana                            |      164 |              81 |           0 | 245     |
| 33        | Tripura                              |       16 |              15 |           1 | 32      |
| 34        | Uttar Pradesh                        |      383 |            2784 |           5 | 3172    |
| 35        | Uttrakhand                           |       39 |             472 |           0 | 511     |
| 36        | West Bengal                          |        3 |               8 |           0 | 11      |
|           | Total                                |     3661 |           26176 |         274 | 30,111  |