4,302 children orphaned during pandemic approved as eligible for PM-CARES benefits: Govt

NEW DELHI: Of the 8,973 applications received for support under the 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme, as many as 4,302 children who were orphaned during the pandemic have been approved as eligible for benefits, the government said on Wednesday.

Responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani gave state/UT, gender and age-group wise details of such children. According to the data, 212 children aged 0-6 years, 1670 children aged 6-14 years, 2001 children aged 14-18 years and 418 young adults aged 18-23 years have received the approval. Irani said that till March 14, 2022, 8973 applications have been uploaded on the portal out of which, 4302 applications have been approved by district magistrates after due process.

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Responding to another question, Irani said the Indian Missions across the world have provisions for assisting Indian women in distress including survivors of gender-based violence. However, to augment such facilities, the Empowered Committee (EC) under the Framework for Nirbhaya Fund has appraised a proposal to set up facilities in Missions/ Posts in countries having a significant proportion of Indian diaspora such as Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia (Jeddah and Riyadh), and at Singapore and Canada (Toronto) on the lines of One Stop Centres (OSCs) for assisting women in India facing violence or in distress.

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She also said in response to another question that no child has gone missing from the Government-owned Child Care Institutions (CCIs) She said that under POSHAN Abhiyaan, Anganwadi workers (AWWs) have been technologically empowered with the provision of smartphones for efficient service delivery and monitoring. "A total of 11.03 lakh Smartphones have been procured by States/UTs," Irani said in a written response to another question.