The Uttar Pradesh government has identified 2,309 children orphaned due to COVID-19 impact out of which 287 children have lost both their parents to the deadly novel coronavirus.
Saharanpur, Muzaffarnagar, Aligarh and Lucknow have the highest number of such children, officials disclosed here on Wednesday.
Expressing concern over the future of the children orphaned due to coronavirus infection, the Supreme Court has ordered the Central and state governments to protect and protect them.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has launched Bal Seva Yojana to take care of these orphaned children. Under this scheme, the government will bear the cost of upbringing and education of these children till they attain adulthood. So far, 287 children have been found in the state whose both parents have died due to novel coronavirus infection. There are 2,022 children whose either mother or father have passed away due to this disease, sources said.
Uttar Pradesh Child Rights Protection Commission Chairman Vishesh Gupta has directed all the districts to identify such children. He said that no child should be left out and hence more exercise will be required. According to reports, 349 orphaned children have been identified in Saharanpur, 144 in Muzaffarnagar, 98 in Aligarh, 88 in Lucknow, 81 in Ghaziabad, 70 in Prayagraj, 62 in Meerut, 61 in Varanasi, 58 in Mau, 50 in Ballia, 49 in Ayodhya, 46 in Farrukhabad, 45 in Kushinagar, 45 in Deoria, 45 in Unnao, 36 in Kanpur Nagar and 32 in Kanpur Dehat districts.
The Yogi cabinet on Monday had approved the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Child Service Scheme for the provision of maintenance and education of the children orphaned during the COVID-19 epidemic. Under this scheme, the legal guardian of the orphan children will be given Rs 4,000 per month per child till the child attains the age of majority. For the marriage of orphaned girls, the government will give financial assistance of Rs 1,01,000 to each. Besides, the children will get free education.
Under the proposal approved by the state cabinet, if both the parents or either mother or father has died of COVID-19, the children will get the benefit of this scheme.