Maharashtra: 300 Covid orphans to get educational funds, mental health care

MUMBAI: With more than 300 children in the state orphaned due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the department of women and child development (WCD) on Tuesday announced educational funding and mental health support for their well-being.

In association with non-profit groups, the department will take care of their academic fees for the next three years. That apart, access to mental health counsellors will be provided, particularly for adolescents.
Losing both parents forced some of the orphans to move to their hometowns to live with extended families or change schools due to their guardian’s inability to afford fees. The WCD will transfer fees directly to the school or college where the child is enrolled.
“We want to ensure that education is not disrupted and there is continuity,” said WCD minister Yashomati Thakur, adding in the next phase, the department will extend academic funding to children who have lost either parent to the pandemic. There are more than 9,800 such children in Maharashtra at present.
A task force has been going door-to-door to identify children orphaned due to the pandemic to provide them assistance and shelter and ensure that there is no trafficking. WCD officers will prepare a report on each case which will include the child’s education status and requirements. “Relatives looking after orphans may be stretched at the moment and education may not be an immediate priority. We are looking at supporting other needs, besides academic fees, such as a tablet or a phone for accessing online education or a bicycle for transportation in rural areas,” said Shishir Joshi of NGO Project Mumbai that is jointly working with WCD. A monitoring team will be set up to periodically check if the child has been attending school or college and if he or she is facing any difficulties.
An 11-year-old, taken in by her grandparents after her parents died of Covid, was worried about her future. WCD counsellors will be visiting such families and interacting with kids to look out for any signs that need intervention. The counsellors are being trained by the Indian Psychiatric Society. “We are also gathering details about Covid widows whose husbands were in debt. Our teams located two such widows in Thane. We will attempt to help them out,” said Mahendra Gaikwad, district WCD officer, Thane.
Project Mumbai’s mental health helpline, started for civic schools, will extend to Covid-hit families. “We intend to rope in experts for child sexual abuse counselling as well,” Joshi said.