In Coimbatore, 91 kids have lost a parent or both

In Coimbatore, 91 kids have lost a parent or both

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Coimbatore:31.05.2021 

The office of the district child protection officer (DCPO) has identified 91 children aged below 18 years who have lost their parent(s) to Covid-19 as on Sunday. Of them, family members of 53 children have sought monetary assistance from the government for their survival.

On Saturday, chief minister MK Stalin announced that the state government will deposit Rs 5 lakh in the name of the children orphaned by Covid-19 and Rs 3 lakh to those who lost one parent. Children who have lost their parents to COVID-19 and staying with relatives or guardians will be given a monthly allowance of Rs 3,000 till they turn18.

An official from the DPCO office said, “Based on the Covid-19 death record prepared by the health department, we are studying the family details of every deceased to identify whether they were parents of children aged below 18 years. Of the 1,104 Covid-19 deaths recorded, we have completed verifying the details of 850.”

“We have identified 91 children who had lost either one or both of parents and they belong to 61 families. Single parent, relatives or guardians of these children refused to send them to government homes. Family members of 51 children who had lost one of their parents to the virus and two children who lost both their parents have sought monetary support from the government,” he said.

As of now, groceries required for three to four months was provided to 20 such families by the members of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), he added.

Recently, Viviyan Jayaraj, 15, and his brother Samuel Ebenezer, 8, lost their parents and maternal grandmother to Covid-19. Now, they are under the care of their paternal grandmother Saradha, 69.

Saradha said, “The children are crying and constantly speaking about their parents ever since their demise. For a change, I have brought them to my daughter’s house in Mettupalayam. We can stay at one of my three daughters’ place for a while, but we cannot do that permanently. So, I have decided to rent a house near my daughter’s house and raise the children on my own.”