Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray-led Maharashtra government on Wednesday announced financial assistance for children orphaned due to COVID-19. The decision was taken at the cabinet meeting chaired by Thackeray.
The government has announced that fixed deposits of Rs five lakh will be made in the name of orphaned children who have lost at least one parent to COVID-19. They will also get a monthly allowance of Rs 1,125.
1. Expenses for the upbringing of the child will be borne from state's childcare scheme until the child attains maturity.
2. Irrespective of whether the child is being cared for by relatives or by children's home, Rs 5 lakh will be deposited in the name of the child.
3. After the child attains the age of 21, the deposited amount will be handed over with interest.
4. If the extended family is unwilling to care for the child, the child will be cared for by the children's home.
5. If the child is being cared by the extended family, they will be eligible for a grant from the department of women and child's development child care scheme.
At present there are 162 children in the state who have lost both parents, at least one of them to the pandemic. Nine such kids are in government institutions as they have no relatives to take care of them, officials said.
Any child (upto the age of 18) whose both parents have died of COVID-19 after March 1, 2020, or one parent has died of COVID-19 and other because of any other reason (prior to or after the COVID-19 outbreak) will be eligible for this aid.
WCD minister Yashomati Thakur told reporters after the cabinet meeting that besides the FD, relative of an orphaned child will get Rs 1,125 per month to look after her or him. "We are trying to raise the amount upto Rs 2,500," she added.
Children who have lost only one parent to COVID-19 and whose other parent is alive will also get this monthly assistance, but they won't be eligible for the FD scheme.
As many as 5,172 children in the state have lost one parent to COVID-19, their other parent being alive, as per official data.
"We have made a provision of Rs 10 crore for about 200 orphaned children. The budget will be increased if there are more such children," Thakur added.
