PM CARES for Children
So far, a total of 845 children orphaned during COVID-19 have been identified to get benefits under ‘PM Cares Fund’.
It is noteworthy that the ‘PM Cares for Children’ scheme was released in May 2021. The main objective of this scheme is to empower and help the children affected by COVID-19.
Eligibility:
All the children who have lost both the parents or either of the parents or the surviving guardian or legal guardian or adoptive parent due to COVID-19 will be provided assistance under the scheme ‘PM-CARES for Children’.
Key points of this scheme:
Fixed deposit in the name of the child: Under this, a corpus of ten lakh rupees will be constituted for each child till the end of the age of 18 years.
School education: Along with getting admission as day scholars in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or private school for children below the age of ten years, all children in the age group of 11 -18 years will also be admitted to any residential school of the Central Government (Like- Sainik School, Navodaya Vidyalaya etc).
Assistance for Higher Education: The child will be assisted in getting education loan for vocational courses or higher education in India as per the existing education loan norms.
Health Insurance: Under the ‘Ayushman Bharat Yojana’ (PM-JAY), all such children will be enrolled as a beneficiary, with a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh.
The need for these measures:
- India, currently battling the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, is witnessing an increase in the death of parents of many children due to this pandemic.
- Along with this, the possibility of child trafficking in the guise of adoption of these children has also increased.
- There has also been an increase in ‘child marriage’ related cases during the lockdown implemented due to COVID-19.
Source – The Hindu
