577 Children Orphaned In Second Wave Of Pandemic

Among a plethora of heartbreaking ramifications in the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, the innumerable stories of children losing both their parents to the disease is quite traumatizing. The Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Tuesday that as many as 577 children across the country has been orphaned in the past 55 days by the second wave.

The vast shocking numbers left citizens moved and many came forward for the adoptions while NGOs are figuratively drenched with uncountable calls for help for such children. “We have been in touch with all states and asked them to identify Covid orphans from their districts. We have ascertained, from the data received, that there are currently 577 of them… Delhi, for instance, has one Covid orphan in this period,” an official said.

Taking to Twitter, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani wrote that the Government is “committed to support and protect every vulnerable child due to loss of both parents to Covid-19. From 1st April 2021 till 2:00 PM today, the State Governments & UTs across the country have reported 577 children whose parents succumbed to Covid-19,” Irani posted.

Under the Integrated Child Protection Scheme, the District Magistrate will distribute the allotted Rs 10 lakh per district for the non-institutional care of these orphans. “Our aim is that not even one child slips through the cracks. Our priority, however, is that the children be retained in their family and community structures and not plucked from these set-ups,” a senior official said.

Delhi, Punjab and Madhya Pradesh are a few states that have promised free education and financial assistance, while others like Uttarakhand, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have announced various welfare schemes. In Telangana, 9 children have lost both their parents in a span of one month. Another 17 kids lost one parent, primarily the breadwinner of the family.

Meanwhile, the Ministry also issued a public notice to warn those who are circulated social media messaged widely on adoption. “There were concerns that this could lead to child trafficking. We have carried out investigations into a large number of these messages and have found all of them, so far, to be fake. These have been handed over to the state police departments who will continue this investigation along with the cyber cells,’’ said an official. 

A bunch of activists have raised an anxious awareness about the potential harm that might get triggered with such posts such as abuse, trafficking or harvesting of organs. It should also be noted that this process of adoption without involving the concerned authorities is illegal.