Over 30,000 children orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned due to Covid-19, NCPCR tells SC

As many as 30071 children were orphaned lost a parent or abandoned mostly due to the Covid19 pandemic as per data submitted by different states till June 5 the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights NCPCR informed the Supreme Court on MondayOf the total 26176 children have lost a parent 3621 have been orphaned and 274 have been abandoned the NCPCR saidThe commission further said that the statewise data received regarding children who have lost either their mother or father or both parents from April 1 2020 to June 5 2021 irrespective of their reason of death not only death due to Covid19 was uploaded on its Bal Swaraj portal and collated by itIt said Maharashtra has been worst affected with 7084 children being orphaned abandoned or have lost a parent mostly to the deadly virus since April 1 last yearAlso Read Maharashtra to adopt Covid19 orphans bear all costs till they are 18In its affidavit filed in the suo motu matter taken up by the apex court the NCPCR said other states where children are most affected include Uttar Pradesh 3172 Rajasthan 2482 Haryana 2438 Madhya Pradesh 2243 Andhra Pradesh 2089 Kerala 2002 Bihar 1634 and Odisha 1073It said that in Maharashtra out of the total 7084 children 6865 have lost one parent 217 have been orphaned and two children have been abandoned while Madhya Pradesh tops the chart where 226 have been abandonedThe NCPCR said that among the affected boys are 15620 girls 14447 and transgender 4 with most children falling in the category of 8 to 13 years of age 11815It said that children affected between the age group of 0 to 3 years are 2902 47 years group are 5107 and 14 to 15 years are 4908 It said that children affected between 16 to below 18 years are 5339 in numbersThe commission clarified that the total data given in the present affidavit includes the data already submitted to the court till May 29 which said that 9346 children were abandoned orphaned or lost a parent mostly to the Covid19 pandemicIt said that data uploading is an ongoing process which is for identification of the CNCPs Child in Need of Care and Protection and the real time tracking to ensure welfare for those childrenThe NCPCR once again flagged concern that it has been receiving many complaints in the past month or so alleging that there are private people and organizations involved in data collection of such children stating that they want to provide assistance to the children and the familiesThese organizations people are giving away these orphaned children to families in adoption without following the procedure given under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 it addedldquoThe Act besides providing for an extensive procedure for children who have lost family support or are in need of assistance also provides for an exhaustive procedure for adoption of orphanabandonedsurrendered children The adoption of orphan abandoned surrendered children is lawful only after the adoption procedure as given under the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 is followed and the final adoption order is passed by the prescribed authorityrdquo it saidThe NCPCR said it is also receiving information regarding disclosure of childrens identity information by government authorities to private NGOs and organizationsldquoIt is further humbly submitted that care must be taken by the authorities to ensure that their any action is not in violation of Section 74 of the Juvenile Justice Act 2015 It is humbly submitted that the aforesaid provision prohibits disclosure of identity of children with regard to the name school age address etc of the child which would reveal the essential details of the child and could help in identifying the childrdquo it saidThe commission sought direction to all statesUTs that any confidential information about children must not be placed in public domain or provided to any person entity organization which would make them susceptible to trafficking abuse illegal adoption etcldquoIt is requested that unless there is an order recommendation of CWC child welfare committee for disclosing the identity of the child in any manner or the same is required for the purpose of sponsorship financial support legally free for adoption restoration necessary as per provisions of JJ Act or any other law the identity of the child must not be disclosed and no information related to children should be given to any personentityorganizationrdquo it saidThe affidavit said that the Commission is also concerned to note that several NGOs are seeking monetary support in the name of children impacted by Covid19 ldquoConsidering that the children in distress situations are wards of state it is imperative for all concerned to immediately inform the statutory authority about any such child noticed by them The Court may be pleased to direct the NGOs if they find a child in need of care and protection then state district authorities must be alerted in consonance with Government of India instructions to statesrdquo it saidThe NCPCR sought directions to all the states Union Territories to create a State Juvenile Justice Fund with the bank account details provided to the general public in order to enable them to credit donations contributions subscriptions directly in the said accountThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever