GHAZIABAD: More than 1,200 children in the six districts of Meerut division have lost either one or both their parents during the deadly second wave of Covid this year, government data has revealed.
While 1,046 of these children lost their fathers, the mothers of 105 kids succumbed to the infection. There are 72 who lost both their parents.
The government data has also revealed that while 1,162 children were approved by the government for the Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojna, only 666 got the benefits so far.
Ghaziabad, the most populated district in the zone, also has the highest number of such children. A total of 406 kids lost one or both their parents in the district. Among them, 353 lost their fathers and 28 their mothers. There are 25 children who lost both their parents, according to the data.
Ghaziabad is followed by Meerut (293), Hapur (191), Bulandshahr (169), Noida (105), and Baghpat, which reported 59 such children. In Meerut, 270 children lost their fathers and seven their mothers. The district reported 16 orphans.
In Noida, 48 kids lost their fathers while the mothers of nine succumbed to Covid.
A few months ago, the state government had launched the scheme for arranging the maintenance, education, and medical facilities for such children. According to the government’s order, an amount of Rs 4,000 a month would be given to such kids.
Children studying in classes IX and above would be provided with a laptop each. There is also a provision to admit such students into Atal Residential Schools and Kasturba Gandhi Residential Schools.
According to the criteria for identifying such minor children, the victim must be a resident of Uttar Pradesh and should have lost a parent whose annual income was not more than Rs 2 lakh. All children of a family will be able to get the benefit of the scheme.
