Over 50,000 children lost a parent during the COVID-19 pandemic in the state and of them, around 2,000 children were orphaned (lost both their parents). Worse, the number may further rise as the Women and Child Development (WCD) department continues its drive to trace out such children from different districts to bring them under the state government's Ashirvad fold.
According to government reports, 48,209 children lost either a parent or their primary caregiver and 2,077 children lost both their parents due to COVID or any other disease or reason during the period of pandemic between April 1, 2020, and September 15, 2021. And Odisha is one of the top five states in India which have the highest number of such children if the reports of the Bal Swaraj portal of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) are taken into consideration. The state government launched the Ashirvad scheme last year to look into the education, health and maintenance of children who lost either both their parents or the breadwinner to COVID-19 or any other disease during the one-and-a-half years of the pandemic.
WCD officials told The New Indian Express, that the process for identification of children who lost their parents during the pandemic for Ashirvad enrollment is continuing and more such children are being identified every month. Under the Ashirvad scheme, a child who has lost both parents is entitled to Rs 2,500 per month while a child who has lost a parent who was also the breadwinner for the family is entitled to Rs 1,500 per month. This assistance will be provided till such children turn 18 years of their age.
Besides, under the convergence of various schemes, they are being extended all government benefits. An official associated with Ashirvad said none of the orphaned children has been brought under the adoption fold so far and only 131 of them were sent to Childcare Institutions (CCIs). "None of the children have been proven legally free for adoption by the CWC yet," he added, according to the TNIE report.
Similarly, under the PM Cares for Children scheme, 108 children have been identified in the state who lost both their parents to COVID-19. Odisha sent 338 applications for PM Cares to the WCD Ministry for approval. "But after a three-layer screening by the CWC, DCPO and Collector, 108 applications were approved," the official told TNIE.
Among them, 10 children are from Kalahandi followed by seven each from Khurda, Balangir and Bargarh. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR) carried out a drive in 2019 and identified 2.3 lakh children who were without parents and of them, 33,000 were orphans. Of them, 8,418 were housed in 238 CCIs.
