Supreme Court told districts: Take charge of orphaned children by Kovid

Expressing displeasure over the plight of children orphaned by COVID or abandoned during the pandemic, the Supreme Court on Friday asked district authorities to “handle such children immediately and meet their basic needs without waiting for any further orders from the court”. Do ”. A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice Anirudh Bose also directed the officials to upload the data on the number of affected children from March 2020 to Saturday evening on the ‘Bal Swaraj’ portal set up by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR). It reported that the epidemic has created an unprecedented situation, which has widespread effects on vulnerable children. The bench also asked the central and state governments to submit the latest information about the identity of children who have been orphaned since March 2020, “whether it is due to an epidemic or otherwise,” And steps taken to meet their basic needs ”. The Ministry of Women and Child Development said on Tuesday that 577 children across the country have been orphaned from April 1 due to the second wave. Hearing an urgent application filed by amicus curiae advocate Gaurav Aggarwal in a case related to the welfare of children in conservation homes in the wake of the epidemic, Justice Rao said that the court was expected

That the authorities will understand the suffering of children on the streets without access. For food and to address the situation without delay. The bench said that it is not aware of the number of starving children and the care of parents in such a large country in this devastating epidemic. Justice Rao said that he has seen in the news reports that there are around 2,000 such children in Maharashtra and asked the lawyers to consider preparing the chart without delay. The bench asked the states to separately provide the data of affected children by Monday and fixed the matter for further hearing on June 1. The court said that the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, The provisions of 2015 make it clear that the authorities have an obligation to ensure that children in need are cared for. Amicus Curiae filed an application seeking directions by Kovid regarding orphaned children and the possibility of trafficking increased. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, on behalf of the Center, told the bench that the government had issued various advisories regarding the care and safety of these children – not only those children who lost both parents, but also children. gave. Senior advocate Bhati also said that the government has declared child protection workers as front-line workers for vaccination. .