Bhubaneswar: In a bid to ensure proper care of children during the Covid-19 pandemic, the state government has directed the district Collectors to take care of the distressed children who are either orphaned by the deadly virus or whose parents are lodged at Covid care centres (CCCs).
Women and Child Development and Mission Shakti department has asked the Collectors to identify at least one child care institution (CCI) in their respective districts to take care of the distressed children during this pandemic.
In a letter to the Collectors, director of Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) and Social Welfare, Aravind Agrawal said, “I am directed to intimate that immediate measures be taken for rehabilitation of the children orphaned due to Covid-19 and children whose parents are affected with Covid and hospitalised and are unable to take care of them temporarily.”
At the identified CCI, proper care will be provided to the children for the interim period, when their parents are either isolated or admitted due to Covid.
The Collectors were also directed to intimate all the hospitals and Covid care facilities in the districts regarding the arrangement for these children. The contact details of the Child Welfare Committee members and designated CCI and Childline number (1098) will be prominently displayed at the reception of the hospital or Covid care centre. The reception of the Covid care facility will guide the patients regarding this arrangement.
Similarly, the district child protection officers (DCPOs) have been asked to make provision of oximeters, mobile phones and thermal scanners for the CCI on priority basis. The Childline coordinators and volunteers have been directed to be on alert and rescue all types of vulnerable children at any time.
PNN
