BHUBANESWAR: The highest number of children who lost a single parent to the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, are from Odisha.
This was revealed by the Women and Child Development Ministry in response to a question in the Lok Sabha on Friday. As many as 34,160 children lost one parent to the pandemic in Odisha. This was followed by Maharashtra which accounted for 27,302 such children and Uttar Pradesh with 19,437 kids. As per the Baal Swaraj portal data, 1,82,671 children lost a single parent due to Covid in the country.
However, when it comes to the PM Cares for Children scheme, only 112 children orphaned due to Covid in Odisha are enrolled under it. On the contrary, while the number is 855 in Maharashtra, it is 467 in Madhya Pradesh.
The PM Cares scheme was launched in 2021 to support children who either lost their parents or legal guardian or adoptive parent or surviving parent to the pandemic. It provides them a monthly stipend till they attain the age of 18 and an amount of Rs 10 lakh on turning 23 years old. A total of 4,532 children are covered under the PM Cares scheme in the country.
Sources said a large number of orphans were brought under the state government’s Ashirvad scheme as it covered all children who became orphans, be it for Covid or any other reason, during the pandemic. On the other hand, PM Cares only included children orphaned due to Covid-19.
Child rights activist Ghasiram Panda said the enrolment under PM Cares was comparatively less because documents and certificates to prove that the child’s parent/s died due to Covid-19 was difficult to get during those times. “Since it was an arduous process, many could not manage to provide the documents for PM Cares,” he added.
According to the state government’s data, 48,209 children lost either a parent or their primary caregiver and 2,077 children lost both their parents due to Covid or any other disease or reason during the period of pandemic between April 1, 2020 and September 15, 2021, in Odisha.