Covid-19: Rs 10 lakh corpus for orphans, education support, health insurance

The relief measures will apply to all those children who have lost both parents or the surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid-19 and will be supported under the ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme, writes Krishnanand Tripathi.

New Delhi:In a major relief for the children who lost both of their parents or surviving parent to the deadly coronavirus, the government has announced a slew of relief measures, which include a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child, stipend for five years, and free education till class 12, among other things, said the Prime Minister’s Office.

All these expenses will be supported by the PM CARES fund, which is funded by donations from citizens and other entities.

The PMO said these decisions were taken in a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to support the children who have lost their parents or supportive guardians due to Covid.

“Children represent the future of the country and the country will do everything possible to support and protect them so that they develop as strong citizens and have a bright future,” Prime Minister Modi said in the meeting.

Read:|Provide immediate aid to children orphaned by Covid: SC

The Prime Minister said that it is the duty of society to care and instil hope of a better future for these children.

On Friday, the Supreme Court asked the states to collect the details of children orphaned by the deadly SarS-CoV-2 virus and support them.

The deadly virus has killed more than 3,22,000 people in the country since the start of the outbreak of the pandemic in March last year, and more than half of them have been killed in April-May this year during the ferocious second wave.

Fixed Deposit in the name of the child:

PM CARES will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age.

This corpus will be used to give a monthly financial stipend from 18 years of age, for the next five years, to take care of his or her requirements during the period of higher education.

On reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump sum for personal and professional use.

Education for children under 10 years

According to the PMO, the orphaned child will be given admission to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar and if the child is admitted to a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES fund.

PM-CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniforms, textbooks and notebooks.

Education for children between 11-18 years

In such cases, the orphaned children will be given admission to any Central Government residential school such as Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya etc.

The government said, if the child is to be continued under the care of a guardian, grandparents or extended family, then he or she will be given admission to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or a private school as a day scholar.

Read:|NCPCR asks States, UTs to upload data of children orphaned by Covid-19 on Bal Swaraj portal

“If the child is admitted in a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES. PM CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniforms, textbooks and notebooks,” said the government.

Higher Education

The government said when an orphaned child attains the age of higher education then they will be assisted in obtaining education loan for professional courses, higher education within the country as per the existing norms.

The interest on these education loans will be paid by the PM CARES.

As an alternative, the PMO said, scholarships equivalent to the tuition fees for undergraduate or vocational courses as per the government norms will be provided to such children under central or state government schemes.

For children who are not eligible under the existing scholarship schemes, PM CARES will provide an equivalent scholarship.

Health Insurance

All children orphaned by the Covid-19 virus will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakhs.

The premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

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