Bidar Deputy Commissioner Ramachandran R. has formed a Child Protection Task Force under his chairmanship to address issues that have emerged due to COVID-19 and convened the task force’s first meeting recently to convey to the members their responsibilities.
As per data provided by the Department of Women and Child Development during the meeting, the district has 125 children who have lost either of their parents and six children who have lost both their parents to the pandemic. Besides, there are 506 children who have lost either of their parents and 10 children who have lost both their parents to non-COVID-19 reasons, including health issues and accidents.
“In total, there are 647 children in the district who have lost either of their parents or both their parents. Of them, only 102 have sought State assistance and we have provided the information of these children on Bal Swaraj portal for further action,” Deputy Director of Women and Child Development Department Ravindra Ratnakar, who is also member-secretary of the district Child Protection Task Force, told the meeting.
In his response, Mr. Ramachandran told the officers concerned to initiate immediate action to rehabilitate the children.
“The departments of Women and Child Development, Social Welfare and Health should work in proper coordination to ensure the rehabilitation of children affected by COVID-19. The helplines — 1098 and 14499 — should be popularised among children so that they can voluntarily seek help they need from the administration. These numbers should be displayed in all possible places where children visit, including anganwadis, public health facilities and schools,” Mr. Ramachandran said.
He also directed the officers to take steps to pay monthly relief of ₹3,000 to every child that had lost both its parents to COVID-19 under the Bal Seva Scheme.
Chief Executive Officer of the Zilla Panchayat Zahera Naseem said that 23 child marriages had been prevented since April this year in the district. “We need to be more alert and ensure that no child marriage takes place in the district. We need to inculcate awareness among parents as well as children on the issue,” Ms. Naseem said.
District Health and Family Welfare Officer V.G. Reddy, Child Protection Task Force coordinator Shambuling Heremath and other officers were present.