The most recent data compiled by the women and child development department revealed that 113 children have lost both of their parents and 3,652 others have lost at least one of their parents to Covid-19 in the Kerala.
In a recent review, chief secretary V P Joy directed all districts to expedite the process of providing compensation to orphaned children, especially in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling in this regard.
While the central scheme (PM Cares for Children) has 113 beneficiaries, the state scheme has 142 children, which includes the 113 orphaned children as a result of Covid and 29 homeless children who have been taken over for care by the government. While all children in the Central scheme are also included in the state scheme, the state government has included children who have been abandoned by their parents and whose current parent has died as a result of Covid-19, as well as children whose parents have died within three months of becoming Covid-19 positive, in its scheme for children.
As of January 27, the state government had provided assistance to 54 children and had completed proceedings in 20 more of these instances. All 102 children have had their home visits and other procedures completed.
The bottleneck in this regard, according to the districts, is the opening of joint bank accounts with the children and the district child protection officers (DCPO). The review meeting decided to expedite this matter and ensure that the remaining applications are processed as soon as possible.
District collectors have also been instructed to ensure that all information regarding deaths recorded in the Centre’s Bal Swaraj portal, including the status of compensation payments, is shared with the district legal services authority. The land revenue commissioner will share the state-level compiled data with the state legal services authority.
Last month, the Supreme Court directed the states to contact the children who were orphaned as a result of Covid-19 and ensure that they receive Rs 50,000 in ex-gratia compensation. The court had noted that they might not be able to submit their claims for compensation, and that the authorities should instead contact them.
Following the court’s harsh criticism of the slow progress of Covid-19 ex-gratia compensation, the state has also accelerated the process by making necessary changes to the procedures for sanctioning the funds to the beneficiaries. The state had cleared 90.07 percent of the claims as of Monday evening.
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