DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government has identified 2,600 child and 219 adult beneficiaries of the Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana, launched to help state residents — below the age of 21 years — who were orphaned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the preliminary data compiled by the state government, at least 2,600 children (below 18 years of age) have lost both their parents to Covid-19 in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic. Besides, 219 others, in the age group of 18-21 years, were orphaned during the pandemic.
The latest data from the state women empowerment and child development department reveals that 1,706 children, who were orphaned during the pandemic, are being provided free education (till Class XII) and are being given a stipend of Rs 3,000 per month under the Mukhyamantri Vatsalya Yojana.
“The data from hill districts suggests that fewer children lost their parents in that phase in comparison to the plains. However, our data collection process to identify these children is ongoing because we suspect that more children might need the state government’s support,” said Rekha Arya, women empowerment and child development minister of Uttarakhand.
District-wise, the highest cases of children being orphaned during the pandemic surfaced from Dehradun (561), followed by Tehri (348), Pauri (313), Nainital (310), Haridwar (256), Udham Singh Nagar (242), Almora (177), Uttarkashi (164), Champawat (132), Rudraprayag (103), Pithoragarh (93), Bageshwar (73), and Chamoli (57).
Based on available data, the state has started giving benefits of the scheme to 309 orphans from Dehradun, 270 from Nainital, 208 from Tehri, 154 from Haridwar, 141 from Udham Singh Nagar, 137 from Uttarkashi, 121 from Pauri, 85 from Champawat, 70 from Almora, 75 from Rudraprayag, 58 from Bageshwar, 50 from Pithoragarh, and 28 from Chamoli.
Meanwhile, more applications to avail of the scheme are being scrutinised by respective district administrations.
