BHUBANESWAR: The BJP has questioned the rationale behind State government’s decision to stop Ashirbad scheme for children who were orphaned by the Covid-19 pandemic, at a time when Odisha is still reporting coronavirus infections and deaths.
Criticising the hurried decision of the government to drop the welfare scheme, BJP State general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar on Thursday asked who will take care of the children who lose their parents after September 15. She said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik who mastered the art of imitating all the Central schemes to claim credit announced Ashirbad scheme on June 20, 2021 soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi decalred announced a number of welfare measures for children who lost their parents to the deadly virus, including ensuring a corpus of Rs 10 lakh when they turn 18 and providing for their education.
Under the State scheme, children who had lost their parents on or after April 1, 2020 were eligible for monetary assistance from Rs 1,500 (losing single parent) and Rs 2,500 (in case of death of both the parents) per month under the scheme, besides other benefits.
“Is Odisha free from coronavirus? If not, the State government must spell out the reason for dropping the scheme and what will happen to the children who will be orphaned by the disease,” questioned Lekhashri.
She urged the government to make public the number of children who lost their parents to Covid-19, how many of them have benefited from the scheme and the amount spent.