The orphaned girls will be admitted to Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, said Nitish Kumar (File)
Patna:
Children who have lost their parents to COVID-19 will be provided Rs 1,500 per month under the Bal Sahayata Yojna till they attain the age of 18, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced today in a string of tweets, adding that such children will be housed in a child care centre.
“Those children who have lost both parents to Covid, or at least have lost one parent to the virus, will be given Rs 1,500 per month by the state till they attain the age of 18,” said Nitish Kumar.
“Such children will be taken care of in a child care centre. The orphaned girls will be admitted to Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya,” the Chief Minister said in another tweet.
Most states have taken upon themselves to provide for such children by announcing free schooling, financial assistance, among other measures.
Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, among others have announced relief measures for such children.
Earlier this week, the Supreme Court directed states to identify children who were orphaned due to the pandemic or otherwise and take steps to address their basic needs.
The top court asked authorities to take care of needs like food, shelter, and clothing “without waiting for an official order from this court”.
Last evening, the centre said family pension will be given to dependants of those who died due to COVID-19. The children will be assisted to get an education loan for higher education and PM-CARES will pay the interest on loan, said the centre.
At least 577 children across the country were orphaned by COVID-19 between April 1 and May 25 alone, according to Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani who cited reports of states and Union Territories.
India has lost over three lakh people to the pandemic, a large number of them during the deadly second wave of infections that set off earlier this year.