New Delhi: The Covid-19 pandemic has a long-lasting impact on children of Odisha and has affected a total of 6,562 kids who have lost either one or both of their parents between April 2020 and July 23 this year.
Odisha is the second most affected state after Maharashtra, where 13,589 children have lost either one or both parents during the Covid-19 pandemic. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court said that 75,320 kids have lost either their mother or father or both after the outbreak of Covid-19.
In the affidavit, the NCPCR states that in Odisha 818 children have become orphans while 5,742 others have lost one of their parents. Similarly, at least 6,855 children have become orphans, 68,218 lost either of their parents and 247 were abandoned across India between April 2020 and July 23, 2021.
It should be stated here that the Supreme Court had Tuesday directed Odisha and other states to file a status report before August 23 giving details of the number of children who have become orphans or have lost either of their parents after March, 2020. The apex court has also asked for details of the children who have been provided with the benefits of the schemes announced by the respective state governments.
The apex court has also directed the state governments to ensure that all the affected children must be permitted to continue in the same schools at least for this academic year, be they private schools or government-run institutions .
“If there are difficulties in the cases of students being permitted to continue their education in private schools, they may be accommodated under the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009,” the court said.
