Child As Victim

Context: Governments must urgently reach out to children who have lost parents to Covid, with programmes designed with sensitivity.

Impact of pandemic on children:

• On growth: Parental loss can have devastating effects on children’s social, emotional and cognitive growth. It adversely affects their mental health, inducing anxiety, depression and sleep disturbances.
• Poor academic performance: Worsening of a family’s economic status results in children’s poorer academic performance and school drop-outs.
• Greater risk of substance abuse: Especially among the children who drop out of school and adolescents who lose parents also display more sexually risky behaviours.

Critique of government approach towards the above concerns:

• Child service is not declared as essential.
• Absence of scheme or policy for enabling the rest of the family to raise children: Even the paltry sum of Rs 2,000 for children sent home from the child care institutions required the SC’s intervention.
• Halting of routine immunisation service: Although the lockdown was gradually lifted from July onwards, the children’s immunisation programme remained low on priority.
  • The Centre launched an intensified immunisation programme only from February 2021.
  • Nothing had prevented state governments from intensifying their immunisation programmes on their own as health is a state subject.
• Issues with the government approach: While the Centre and the State has attempted to bridge the gap on immunisation but the approach is flawed on the following counts –
  • Lack of proactiveness: While the government has published advertisements asking people to report orphaned children, it should provide support proactively rather than relying on helplines.
    • For e.g. A proactive approach has been adopted by the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), Government of Delhi.
  • Non-targeted financial assistance: While the cash transfers have been announced by 5 states, they are often aimed at increasing the schooling years and may not ensure keeping them out of labour.
  • Issues with Right to Education: While the Section 12(1)(c) pushes for free education to orphans in private schools of their choice, admission has happened in less than 35% of the cases.
  • Bureaucratic hurdles: While most programmes support the widow and her children by providing cash transfers and entitlements, they have to run from pillar to post to submit the documents.
    • There is no need for a Covid 19 positive report or death certificates as proof as the different state government already have this information.