Survey in Delhi to identify children orphaned during Covid

The Women and Child Development Department of the Delhi government will undertake a survey to identify children who have been orphaned during the Covid-19 pandemic, an official said on Friday.

A senior government official said that the department has appointed 20 welfare officers who will conduct the survey in different childcare homes, institutions and district offices in the city.

The appointed officials have been attached with child welfare committees and district child protection units to conduct the survey by July 20.

The Delhi government has planned to give a compensation of Rs 2,500 per month to children who have lost their parents to Covid-19.

According to an earlier report of Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), over 2,000 children in the Delhi have lost either one or both their parents due to Covid-19 pandemic, of which 67 of them lost both their parents, since the pandemic outbreak in March last year.

As many as 651 children have lost their mothers and 1,311 children lost their fathers to the infection, according to an earlier report of DCPCR.

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had on May 14 said his government would bear the cost of education and upbringing of the children orphaned during the pandemic.