COVID-orphaned Children Aged Up To 18 To Get Free Health Insurance Of Rs 5 Lakh

As the country continues to fight the COVID-19 crisis, the central government has decided to give free health insurance of ?5 lakh to children upto the age of 18 years, who were orphaned due to the coronavirus disease pandemic. This was announced by Union minister Anurag Thakur.

In early June, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) had informed the Supreme Court that the COVID-19 pandemic has orphaned 1742 children, and 7464 children lost at least one parent due to coronavirus infection.

PTI

Premium to be paid by Centre

Union Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs Anurag Thakur took to Twitter to announce that the premium will be paid by Prime Minister's Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund (PM-CARES).

He declared, "As part of the steps taken to take care of children affected by COVID-19, children up to 18 years will be provided free health insurance of Rs 5 lakhs under Ayushman Bharat and its premium will be paid by PM CARES".

Thakur also posted the details of the scheme on the social networking site along with a link to a government website on steps taken by the Centre in making India self-reliant.

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¡ª Office of Mr. Anurag Thakur (@Anurag_Office) August 4, 2021

PM CARES for Children Scheme

The PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 29, 2021, for the children. It aims to support children who have lost both the parents or legal guardian or adoptive parents or surviving parent to the COVID-19 pandemic during the period starting from March 11, 2020.

The objective of the scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children in a sustained manner, and enable their well-being through health insurance, empower them through education and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support on reaching 23 years of age.

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Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced measures to help orphaned children, with a fund of around $13,970 set aside for each child. This will be given to them as a stipend from the ages of 18-23.

Education support to orphaned children

On Friday, June 18, Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, then Union Cabinet Minister for Education, took to Twitter and announced that the Department of School Education & Literacy, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Women and Child Development are determined to provide the necessary support to children who lost one or both the parents to COVID-19. Several hundreds of cases of COVID-19 orphaned children in the country stare at an uncertain future.

IE

Dr. Ramesh had informed, "In addition to PM Cares, to ensure continuity of education, efforts are made to bring such children into the fold of the various schemes being run by the Department of School Education & Literacy". He further stated, "I humbly request the authorities of the States/UTs to take action in identifying such children and provide them with the necessary support within one month".