Bhubaneswar: After the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court that a total of 1,47,492 children have lost either of their parents or both due to Covid-19 and other reasons, the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), chairperson Sandhyabati Pradhan, said the commission will write to the government to restart the Ashirbad scheme for the benefit of children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19.
Talking to Orissa POST, Pradhan said the commission will write a letter to the women and child development department asking them to help those children who were deprived of the scheme.
“We will also recommend them to help them in getting proper education and welfare,” she added.
The state government last year had discontinued the ‘Ashirbad’ scheme for children who lost their parents to COVID-19, three and half months after its launch.
The package was meant for orphans and the beneficiaries were divided into three categories — children who lost either the parents or one of earning parents or the breadwinner.
The scheme covers children who lost their parent(s) on or after April 1, 2020.
According to the W&CD department, children who lost parents after September 15, 2021 are no longer to be covered under the scheme due to the declining trend of the pandemic.
Giving state-wise details of children who lost their parent/s to Covid, the commission said the maximum number children is from Odisha (24,405) followed by Maharashtra (19,623), Gujarat (14,770), Tamil Nadu (11,014), UP (9,247), Andhra (8,760), MP (7,340).
PNN