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.