Bengal govt to provide Rs 2,000 per month to ‘COVID orphans’
The state child rights commission will also ensure that the education of the children who have lost one or both parents to COVID-19 is progressing well and that they are being looked after properly by their guardians.
Many children lost one or both their parents to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the second wave that ravaged the country a few months ago.
The Bengal government has decided to support such children by providing monetary aid, in the form of Rs 2,000 per month.
The West Bengal Commission for Protection of Child Rights (WBCPCR) has identified nearly 3,400 COVID-19 orphans in the state. The rights body is also planning on steps to ensure that the children’s education is looked after and that relatives are taking good care of them.
The WBCPCR is expediting the process of conferring legal guardianship to the relatives with whom the children are staying. Child welfare committees and district child protection departments will keep track of these children and see to it that they are being well looked after by relatives.
