The young lives thrown into uncertainty by the Covid-19 pandemic

Children who have lost one parent or both need more than monetary help

In Agra, seven-year-old Pintu keeps asking for his mother. His elder brother, Brijesh, 13, has no answer. Covid claimed both their parents within a span of five days. Their grandmother, a cancer patient, is looking after them, while their septuagenarian grandfather is resigned to the fact that he cannot afford to retire from his job as a security guard. Both worry about the children’s fate. They are not alone.

As the brutal second wave of the pandemic recedes across India, the government and child welfare agencies across the country are grappling with a basic question: What can be done to support the children that Covid-19 has orphaned or left vulnerable? The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court that as many as 30,071 children across India have lost one parent or both, or have been abandoned from the time the pandemic started till June 5. Of these, 26,176 have lost a parent, 3,621 have been orphaned and 274 have been abandoned (see box). Given that across the country, many have died without being tested and Covid fatalities remain undercounted, child welfare experts reckon this number is only the tip of the iceberg.

The Centre and several states have announced schemes for Covid orphans. The latest is Odisha government’s Ashirbad scheme, which will transfer Rs 2,500 every month to non-parent family members towards the maintenance, health and education of the child they are fostering. Kerala government recently announced that 74 children orphaned by Covid will receive Rs 2,000 a month, plus a fixed deposit of Rs 3 lakh. The Centre’s PM Cares for Children will create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for all Covid orphans and take care of their education and health insurance. 

However, child care institutions, child protection agencies and activists believe that the promise of financial assistance alone will not ensure the rehabilitation of children affected by the pandemic.

Children who lose their parents are at higher risk of depression, dropping out of school and being exploited or trafficked, experts say. Also, like the grandparents of Pintu and Brijesh, many caregivers may not be in the best shape to provide them with a stable home. 

“We have to adopt a multi-level strategy for children left vulnerable by the pandemic,” says Sumanta Kar, secretary general of SOS Children’s Villages of India. “Not only must we address their physical and psycho-social needs, we also need to consider issues that their families and caregivers face in looking after them.”

SOS Children’s Villages have rec­eived some 240 children for foster care across their 32 children’s villages in India in the last two months, many of whom are victims of the pandemic. Based on their experiences in caring for children orphaned by past disasters like the 2001 Bhuj earthquake and 2004 tsunami, they have created diverse care models. In the last two months, about 1,980 households with children that have lost primary breadwinner have enrolled in SOS Villages’ Family Strengthening Prog­ramme to enhance their livelihoods capabilities; 30 have joined their Kinship Care Programme for non-parent families looking after Covid orphans and 125 have joined their After Care Programme for orphaned youths above 18.

“In our homes, up to 10 children live with one foster mother in a family-like atmosphere,” Kar says. “Our SOP (standard operating procedure) for all, including Covid orphaned children, includes psycho-social support from the foster mother in a supportive environment.” They have also started short stay services for children whose families are sick with Covid.

Child rights advocates say that financial packages from the government are often hampered by red tape and lack of awareness among beneficiaries. Also, they are only directed at children who have lost their parent/s. “Right now, vulnerable children are of three types — those who’ve lost one or both parents; those who’ve lost the breadwinner of the family to the pandemic and those whose parents/guardian suffer from terminal illness and disability,” says Namrata Jaitli, director-policy and programme impact of Save the Children Foundation. “We’re asking for some benefits to be extended to not just orphans but also to the other two categories of vulnerable children as well.”

Regardless of their level of vulnerability, these young victims of the pandemic will need long-term help and counselling. And their numbers are likely to grow.

“Now that the lockdown has been lifted, I fear many more cases of children at risk will emerge,” says Kar. Others believe the government must proactively seek out children of Covid deceased instead of relying only on reports from district administrations and calls on its Childline number (1098).

“Wherever possible, children already traumatised by the loss of their parents should be rehabilitated within their own families,” says Jaitli. “The efficient transfer of benefits to all vulnerable children and their long-term monitoring will help.”

Names of the children have been changed to protect their identity