‘577 kids orphaned during 2nd wave’

NEW DELHI: As many as 577 children orphaned during the second wave of the ongoing pandemic have been reported by states between April to now as per the information available with the Union ministry of women and child development (WCD). All of the children are presently with their immediate families, their needs are being addressed and they are being monitored by the government for their safety.

According to sources in

WCD ministry

if one goes by the data on 577 children shared by states, it is not even close to the exaggerated figures many had claimed and shared that Delhi has so far reported just one such case to the ministry.

According to an official as per the data shared by states these children are not abandoned and are under the watch and protection of district authorities. The child welfare committees will be monitoring all these children to ensure their well-being.

WCD minister Smriti Irani in a tweet said, “GOI (Government of India) is committed to support and protect every vulnerable child due to loss of both parents to Covid-19. From 1st April 2021 till 2 pm today, the state governments and UTs across the country have reported 577 children whose parents succumbed to Covid-19.” She went on to add that her ministry has been in continuous engagement with states, weekly reports are generated since the Covid outbreak in collaboration with all states along with

NCPCR

, Childline 1098 and other agencies.

Meanwhile, it is learnt from officials that the government has decided to allocate Rs 10 lakh per district under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme of the WCD ministry for the welfare of these kids.

According to sources, the ministry has taken stock of all the

SOS

messages for adoption that were doing the rounds on social media and and were found to be fake. However, the WCD ministry, the

ministry of home affairs

and all concerned authorties are on high alert to watch out for cases of trafficking of orphan children in the name of adoption.

Earlier in a public notice to inform people about the procedure for rehabilitation of children who have lost their parents to Covid-19, the WCD ministry had made it clear that people must refrain from engaging or encouraging such actions, which are in contravention of legal provisions. The ministry also stated that any person who wants to adopt an orphan children may approach Central Adoption Resource Authority (cara.nic.in) for “lawful adoptions”.