Corona Crisis: Center issued guidelines to take care of children who lost parents

Ram Mohan Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of Women and Child Development, wrote a letter on Wednesday to the Chief Secretaries of all the states and union territories regarding this. In this, he said that to mainstream and facilitate the steps being taken, major responsibilities have been fixed for those with primary duty so that the best interest of children can be ensured during the pandemic.

The database will be prepared with each child's profile

Mishra issued detailed guidelines by prescribing the roles of states, district magistrates, police, Panchayati raj institutions, and urban local bodies. States will have to locate children in distress through surveys and contacts and create a database with each child's profile. They will also have to write the particular needs of the children and upload them on the 'Track Child Portal'.

Instructions also to provide psychological help to children

Mishra asked the States and Union Territories to give the responsibility of temporary child care institutions (CCIs) to children whose parents are unwell due to COVID and have no other relatives in the family. Necessary help should be given to such children. He also asked the states to release a local helpline number on which experts can provide psychological support to the children.

9346 children lost one of their parents

It is noteworthy that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has said in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court that according to the data received from the states, 9346 children in the country have passed away from their parents due to the deadly corona infection. Have lost at least one. Among them, there are more than 1700 children whose parents, both have died of coronavirus infection.