New Delhi, May 28

Observing that it cannot even imagine how many children in this large country have been orphaned due to the devastating Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court on Friday directed the state authorities to immediately identify them and provide relief.

The top court asked state governments to understand the agony of children starving on the streets and directed the district authorities that they be immediately taken care of without waiting for any further orders from the courts.

A Vacation Bench of Justices LN Rao and Aniruddha Bose directed district administrations to identify the orphans in their areas and upload the data on the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) website by Saturday evening.

The top court's direction came on an application filed by amicus curiae Gaurav Agrawal in the pending suo motu case seeking identification of orphaned children due to Covid-19 or otherwise and providing them immediate relief by the state governments. — PTI