The two consecutive waves of the COVID pandemic have impacted lives of children to a great extent and in multiple ways. The crisis has contributed towards reversing decades long efforts in securing our children’s education, health, nutrition, mental well-being and protection issues. However, the most devastating effect had been the pandemic ripping away love, care and protection of parents or primary care givers from children.
As per latest data from the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), a total of 30,071 children in India were either orphaned, lost one of the parents or were abandoned between March, 2020 and June, 2021.
Without protection of their primary care givers, children often feel lost and most importantly they are exposed to anti-social elements luring them into trafficking, child labour, etc. Coming to the aid of such vulnerable children, the central and state governments has introduced several schemes to take care of such children, which includes free education, health insurance and financial aid.
Welcoming the move, Director of Policy, Advocacy and Research at Child Rights and You, Priti Mahara said that “these are important safeguards for children. We are hopeful that while developing guidelines and operational modalities, the schemes announced by the Centre and States will take into consideration the requirements of the most vulnerable children, including girls, children from remote / tribal areas, children from marginalised and minority communities, and also children with disabilities.”