Over 4000 children orphaned during Covid-19 pandemic: Smriti Irani

"The application of such children are uploaded on the portal by the respective State/UT Governments. As of 14.03.2022, 8973 applications have been uploaded on the portal out of which, 4302 applications have been approved by District Magistrates after due process," stated Irani.

New Delhi: Out of the 8973 applications received for support under the PM CARES for Children Scheme,4302 children who were orphaned during the Ciovid-19 pandemic have been considered eligible for receiving benefits under the scheme. The information was provided by Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Wednesday in Rajya Sabha.

"The application of such children are uploaded on the portal by the respective State/UT Governments. As of 14.03.2022, 8973 applications have been uploaded on the portal out of which, 4302 applications have been approved by District Magistrates after due process," stated Irani.

According to the data, provided by Irani, out of the concerned children 212 are in the age group of 0 to 6 years, 1670 are in the age group of 6 to 14 years and 2001 were aged between 14 to 18 years. She also stated 418 young adults in the age group of 18 to 23 years were considered eligible for benefits under the scheme.

"The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing a centrally sponsored scheme namely Child Protection Services (CPS) Scheme – Mission Vatsalya under which support is provided to States and UT Governments for delivering services for children in need of care and in difficult circumstances. The Child Care Institutions (CCIs) established under the CPS scheme support inter-alia age-appropriate education, access to vocational training, recreation, health care, counseling, etc," stated Irani.