SC asks Centre to furnish details of PM Cares Fund for children orphaned due to COVID

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday took note of the welfare scheme providing relief to children orphaned due to COVID-19 and sought details of the plan to the Centre.

The top court also asked the Centre to furnish information on monitoring of scheme for orphans for which money would be provided from PM CARES Fund.

The SC further directed the states to keep updating the NCPCR portal with information about the number of children orphaned due to COVID-19.

A bench comprising justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose said it would hear on Monday the cases of ten states first Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Bihar and Jharkhand where more kids have breadwinner guardians.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday had announced that all children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to Covid 19 will be supported under 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme. 

The prime minister said that such children will get a monthly stipend once they turn 18 and a fund of ₹10 lakh when they turn 23 from PM-CARES. This measure makes way for long-term assistance to enable the child to have the necessary financial support when s/he moves out of school and is an adult who can take decisions with regards to their future course.

The decision was taken after the Prime Minister chaired an important meeting to discuss and deliberate on steps which can be taken to support such children.

A recent study conducted by Child Rights and You (CRY) found that states have received increased reports of missing children after the first wave of Covid-19. The proportion of missing girl children is much higher. The obvious inference is that either the children have run away to find some kind of livelihood for themselves or have been trafficked interalia for flesh trade."