TRICHY: The Tamil Nadu State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (TNSCPCR) on Wednesday said the district child protection units (DCPUs) have identified more than 3,600 children who lost either both the parents or one of them to Covid-19.
TNSCPCR chairwoman Saraswathi Rangasamy told reporters that the department of social defence through DCPUs across the state had found 93 children who lost both their parents to Covid-19. The number of children who lost one of the parents was 3,591, she said. “The survey is going on. We will identify more such children in the state,” she said.
Chief minister MK Stalin announced rehabilitation and protection of the children who have lost their parents to Covid-19. Children aged below 18 years would be given Rs 5 lakh if they lost both the parents and Rs 3 lakh in case of death of one of them due to Covid-19. The financial assistance will be deposited as a fixed deposit in Tamil Nadu Power Finance Corporation and the maturity amount will be given to the children once they complete the age of 18 years.
Saraswathi Rangasamy and the members of the commission held a review meeting with all the stakeholders of child welfare in the presence of Trichy collector S Sivarasu at Trichy collector office on Wednesday.
“The commission is determined to prevent children from the third wave of Covid-19 if there is any. The objective of the meeting with the stakeholders is to take stock of the work being done by them to safeguard the children from the infection,” said Saraswathi.
The chairperson also held the parents responsible for not closely following their children and preventing them using mobile phones excessively. V Ramaraj, member of TNSCPCR told the stakeholders to identify the unregistered childcare institutions (CCIs) and take action.
