Er. Prabhat Kishore
(prabhatkishore65@gmail.com)
A large number of children have lost both parents, surviving parents, legal parents, or adoptive parents during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic, starting from March 11, 2020, to February 28, 2022. The whole country stands with such children in this difficult time. To support such orphan children, the “PM CARES for Children” scheme was launched across the country on May 29, 2021. The scheme is a determined step taken by the country for the golden future of such children.
The scheme aims to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children who have lost their parents to the COVID pandemic in a sustained manner, enable their well-being through health insurance, empower them through education, and equip them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs 10 lakh on reaching 23 years of age. The child should not have completed 18 years of age at the death of the parents.
The PM CARES for Children scheme shall provide educational assistance entitlements (i) support for boarding and lodging to the extent feasible in government residential schools; (ii) uniforms, textbooks, tuition fees, notebooks, stationery, and transport facilities to the beneficiaries. Children above 10 years of age can be enrolled in Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Awasiya Vidyalaya, Eklavya Model Schools, Sainik School, and Navodaya Vidyalaya as per the guidelines of the institution concerned.
All identified and verified children will be enrolled as beneficiaries under the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri-Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) Scheme with a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh. The cover under the scheme includes all expenses incurred on medical examinations, treatment, and consultations, pre-hospitalisation, medicine and medical consumables, non-intensive and intensive care services, diagnostic and laboratory investigations, medical implantation services, accommodation benefits, food services, complications arising during treatment, and post-hospitalization follow-up up to 15 days.
A lump-sum amount will be directly transferred to the post office account of the beneficiaries. A pro-rata amount will be credited upfront in the account of the beneficiary, such that the corpus becomes Rs 10 lakh at the time of attaining the age of 18 years. On attaining the age of 18 years, the beneficiary will receive a stipend till the age of 23 years by investing the corpus of Rs 10 lakh. They will receive an amount of Rs 10 lakh upon attaining the age of 23. The Central Government has promised Rs 4,000 for the daily basic needs of children through other schemes.
For the execution of the scheme, the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD) is the nodal ministry at the central level; the Department of Social Justice, or Department of Women and Child Development, is the nodal agency at the state level; and the district magistrate is the nodal authority at the district level.
Various ministries and departments have a crucial role to play in providing facilities and services to children as per their needs. The Department of School and Literacy will ensure that the beneficiary children receive educational assistance; the Department of Higher Education will facilitate loans and scholarships; and the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare will ensure insurance coverage under the PM-JAY scheme. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, and the Ministry of Minority Affairs will accommodate the children identified under their scholarship programme. The Department of Economic Affairs will facilitate the investment of the fixed deposit in an instrument to ensure a stipend after 18 years of age and a lump-sum payment of Rs 10 lakh at 23 years of age.
Identification of beneficiaries will be done by the district magistrate with the assistance of police, the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU), Child Line, and civil society organizations. Gram Panchayat, Anganwadi, and the SHA network will be sensitised to report such children to CWC. The identified child will be registered within a week through the online portal developed for this purpose. The detailed verification of the beneficiary will be done by the CWC and will be uploaded to the portal within 15 days. After the recommendation of the CWC and confirmation of the DM, the accounts of eligible beneficiaries will be opened in the post office. Children below 18 years of age will have a joint account with DM, whereas in the case of children aged 18 or older, a single account will be opened.
Upon receiving the approved list of beneficiaries on the portal, MoWCD will transfer the lump sum amount to the account of DM. Subsequently, the DM will provide funds to the children’s account and to the institutions responsible for their education, health, or other activities. According to MoWCD, up until now, more than 4,000 children from all corners of the country have been approved, and the process is on.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has claimed that 1,47,492 children have lost either both their parents or one of their parents due to the COVID-19 pandemic and other reasons between March 2020 and May 29, 2021, but data only due to COVID is not available. According to MoWCD, 9,042 applications from 33 states and UTs have been received on the “PM CARES for Children” portal, out of which 4,345 beneficiaries from 31 states and UTs have been approved. In reality, neither the government nor any NGO has complete data on children orphaned during the COVID. The government should ensure a proper survey of such children. Only then can the developed policies and programmes benefit them. Also, society should come forward to adopt such children for their welfare.
PM CARES for Children is a holistic approach to covering children who lost their parents during the worldwide pandemic COVID-19. It is hoped that through this ambitious scheme, the lives of such unfortunate children will be settled to some extent, and they will move ahead on the path of a bright future.