By Dominick Rodrigues
Mumbai : The Maharashtra Government has decided to deposit a one-time Rs five lakh in the bank accounts of children who have lost both their parents, besides also making efforts to rehabilitate such children through other schemes
Describing children — who have lost both their parents due to COVID-19 – as having suffered a massive “mental blow,” Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister, Advocate Yashomati Thakur stated here recently that the cabinet decision in this regard highlighted how much important it is to give them motherly support.
So, bearing this in mind, the Government women and child development department is contemplating starting a new scheme for children in the age group of 0-18 years, she said, adding that the state government is depositing Rs. 5 lakh in these childrens’ bank accounts for used in their future rehabilitation.
She said that if relatives of these orphaned children did not wish to care for them, then they would be admitted to government child care homes. “However, if the relatives are willing to care for them, then they will be provided benefits of the child care scheme under which the Maharashtra government has hiked the grant by Rs.1100,” she said.
Highlighting drafting of an action plan to provide them skill development training for a permanent income along with mental rehabilitation, she said so far 141 such orphan children had been found with the help of a district-level task force and there was the possibility of their numbers being more than those discovered so far.
“The state government has made a provision of Rs. 10 crores towards implementing this scheme. If more orphan children are found then additional provision will be made”, Thakur said.
The Maharashtra Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray gave its nod to this proposal and stated that this amount will be given with interest to the child after he or she attains the age of 21 years, while the expense of the children’s upbringing would be borne from the child care scheme of the women and child development department of the state government.
While the amount would be deposited in the joint account of the child and the district women and child development department officer, the government has constituted a district level taskforce — with collectors of respective districts being the chairpersons – which is entrusted with responsibility of collating information about children who have become orphans after their parents died of COVID-19.
