whether the Union Government plans to provide long-term solutions for children orphaned due to COVID-19 pandemic, if so, the details thereof;
(b) whether the Union Government has sought the views of the State Governments to find the solution of orphaned children, if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether there is a need to formulate a national level comprehensive policy for livelihood of the orphaned children; and
(d) if so, the steps taken by the Union Government in this regard?

ANSWER

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT
(SRIMATI SMRITI ZUBIN IRANI)

(a) & (d) The children in distress situations merit care and protection under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015. The Act and Rules made thereunder mandate a safety net of service delivery structures along with institutional and non-institutional care for these children. The Ministry is implementing a Centrally Sponsored Scheme namely Child Protection Services (CPS) in partnership with the State Governments/UT Administrations for delivering the institutional and non-institutional care as stipulated under the JJ Act. As per the scheme guidelines, maintenance grant of Rs.2000/- per child per month is available for non-institutional care (including Aftercare after the age of 18 years) of children in need of care and protection, along with the provision of maintenance grant of Rs.2160/- per child per month for Children living in Child care Institutions.

The Ministry regularly engages with the States/UTs to coordinate the efforts in the best interest of children. The Ministry has asked States and UTs to take immediate action for care and protection of children adversely impacted by COVID 19, in accordance with the provisions of the JJ Act 2015 and Rules thereunder, while leveraging the facilities funded under the Child protection Services scheme. The Ministry has also issued advisories and guidelines for encouraging COVID appropriate behavior, monitoring of Child Care Institutions and coping strategies during COVID times for mental health support to children and care givers. A guideline providing a responsibility matrix defining the role of primary duty holders has also been shared with the States/UTs

Hon’ble PM has announced PM CARES for children scheme to support children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian or adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic. The scheme provides support for education and health and will create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age. This corpus will be used to give a monthly financial support/ stipend form 18 years of age, for the next 5 years to take care of his or her personal requirements during the period of higher education and on reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and professional use. The scheme is accessible through an online portal i.e. pmcaresforchildren.in. The portal has been introduced to all the States and UTs on 15.07.21. Any Citizen can inform the administration regarding a child eligible for support under this scheme through the portal.

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