Government announces benefits for children orphaned by Covid

The government on Saturday announced a special “PM-CARES for Children” scheme for all those orphaned due to COVID-19, which will include a corpus of ₹10 lakh for each child till he or she reaches 18.

The decisions were taken at a high-level review meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss and deliberate on steps which can be taken to support children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19.

"Children represent the future of the country and the country will do everything possible to support and protect the children so that they develop as strong citizens and have a bright future," Modi said.

On reaching the age of 23 years, they will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and professional use.

Adding to this, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that children represent the future of India and the government “will do everything to support, protect them”. “It’s our duty as society to care for our children and instill hope for a bright future,” said PM Modi, PTI reported.

School education:

Highlighting measures for their education, the PMO said children under 10 years will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.

Those between 11-18 years of age will be given admission in any central government residential school such as Sainik School and Navodaya Vidyalaya. In case the child remains under the care of a guardian or extended family, then he or she will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.

If the child is admitted to a private school, the fees as per the RTE norms will be given from the PM CARES. PM CARES will also pay for expenditure on uniform, textbooks and notebooks.

Higher education:

The child will be assisted in obtaining an education loan for professional courses / hgher education in India as per the existing education loan norms. The interest on this loan will be paid by the PM CARES.

As an alternative, scholarship equivalent to the tuition fees/course fees for undergraduate/ vocational courses as per government norms will be provided to such children under Central or State Government schemes. For children who are not eligible under the existing scholarship schemes, PM CARES will provide an equivalent scholarship.

Health insurance:

There is also a provision of Health Insurance for children who have lost both their parents or guardians under the new scheme. All children will be enlisted as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of ₹5 lakhs. The premium amount for these children till the age of 18 years will be paid by PM CARES.

The move to establish a PM Cares scheme specifically for children comes in the wake of several state governments announcing relief packages for minors who lost parents during the pandemic. Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu have already made provisions to grant financial aid and other benefits to such children.