COVID-19 – Over One Lakh Children Orphaned, Lost One Parent Or Abandoned, Need Special Care And Protection – NCPCR To Supreme Court
An affidavit has been filed by NCPCR before the Apex Court which is hearing a suo moto matter on the contagion of Covid-19 in children protection homes.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) on Thursday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court claiming that over one lakh children need special care protection who are either orphaned, lost of one of their parents, or abandoned during the Covid-19 pandemic from April 2020.
The apex court is hearing a suo moto matter on the contagion of Covid-19 in children protection home, while the affidavit was filed by NCPCR.
The NCPCR has provided the details of the number of children who have either lost one of their parents or both from April 1, 2020, to August 23, 2021. The detailed information was gathered from Bal Swaraj's portal where data is uploaded by the States and Union Territories.
The portal's data showed that there are about 1,01,032 children in the country who need special care and protection. Out of this total number, 8,161 children are orphaned, 92,475 have lost either of their parents and 396 are abandoned since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country.
The affidavit filed by NCPCR showed out of the total 1,01,032 children 52,532 are boys, 48,495 are girls and five are transgender, while 10,980 are in the age group of 0-3 years while 16,182 are in the age group of 16 to up to 18 years.
A state-wise break-up was also shown in the affidavit filed Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi, where Maharashtra has the highest number of children i.e. 15, 401 who are in need of care and protection and have lost both or either parent followed by Gujarat (9,033), Odisha (8,498), and Delhi (5,391).
NCPCR stated in its affidavit that at present the data analysis regarding uploaded individual child entry is under process by the agency.
The Supreme Court has in the past passed a few directions for care and protection of children who have become homeless or have lost both or either parent or were abandoned during Covid-19.
With Inputs from PTI
