577 Children Lost Both Parents To COVID: This Is How Centre & States Are Rehabilitating Them

Amid the grim numbers of death toll that emerged during the second wave of COVID, one number stands out.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Women and Child Development said that 577 children across the country have been orphaned in the past 55 days by the second wave.

Appeals for adoption of vulnerable children went viral on social media, prompting the government to warn people against illegal adoptions.

¡°GOI 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 (Tuesday), the State Governments & UTs across the country have reported 577 children whose parents succumbed to Covid-19,¡± union minister Smriti Irani tweeted.

The government said it is working on rehabilitation of orphaned children.

Delhi to offer assistance to 'COVID orphans'

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said the Delhi government will extend financial help to families which have lost their earning members to the coronavirus and also bear the cost of education and upbringing of children orphaned by the pandemic.

Reuters

"I know many children who have lost both their parents. I want to tell them that I am still there. Do not consider yourself an orphan. The government will take care of their studies and upbringing," Kejriwal said.

"I know elderly citizens who have lost their children. They depended on their earnings. I want to tell them that their son (Kejriwal) is alive. The government will help all such families who have lost their earning members," the chief minister said.

UP govt to take care of orphans

The Yogi Adityanath government recently announced that it will take the responsibility of those children who have lost their parents during the second wave of the COVID-19 in Uttar Pradesh.

BCCL

The Chief Minister has said that such children were an asset to the state and his government will take care of them and will look after their health, education and security.

The Yogi government has, so far, identified 60 children across the state who have lost both parents to the pandemic and another 609, whose parents or guardians are affected by COVID and need temporary care.

The State Child Protection Society, under Section 6 of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, has been tasked with establishing shelters for rehabilitation of children and coordinating with various agencies.

Unverified posts on child adoption flood social media

Numerous unverified posts on child adoption have flooded social media after reports of children losing both their parents to COVID surfaced online.

Such illegal posts and methods of adoption could lead to child trafficking.

Taking cognisance of the matter, many state governments, and NGOs swung into action to invalidate these posts and apprised those interested in adoption with legal adoption procedures that must be followed.

REUTERS

The Goa Police have warned against illegal adoption of 'COVID orphans', days after some social media posts urging people to adopt children whose parents had succumbed to the deadly pandemic, went viral.

"Recently we had come across some social media posts that were talking about children who had become orphan because of COVID. Those posts were urging people to take COVID orphans for adoption. So we noticed that this trend was picking up slowly. Adoption is a field which is closely monitored by legal agencies and there is a proper law in place which governs adoption," Goa Police public relations officer Shobit Saxena said.

Agencies

"All adoption must follow the law in place. That is we have taken out a poster recently, making people aware about procedure which needs to be followed for legal adoption. Any illegal adoption without following those procedures is not valid, it may result an offence under Indian Penal Code and other acts," Saxena also said, urging people to verify the antecedents of agencies who are putting up children for adoption.