Free education, pension to kids orphaned due to COVID-19 in Madhya Pradesh

BHOPAL: The Madhya Pradesh government will provide free education and a pension of Rs 5,000 per month to children whose parents died of COVID-19, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said on Thursday.

The CM assured that his government will take care of those who lost their earning members during the pandemic. The state government will also stand as guarantor for those availing interest-free loans to start businesses, Chouhan said in a statement to the media.

"We will provide education free of cost to the children who have lost their parents. They will be provided free ration even if they are not eligible for it," he said.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely hit many families. Children have lost their parents, while aged people are left alone as those taking care of them died due to the viral infection. "Our government will stand by such children and families and provide Rs 5,000 pensions per month to them," Chouhan said.

He said many aged people have lost their children. They have no one to take care of them and they are facing problems of survival. "We can't leave such persons alone. They are now the responsibility of the Madhya Pradesh government," he said. Chouhan said children who have lost their parents should not worry about their life.

"They are the children of the state and it will look after them," the chief minister said. Home Minister Narottam Mishra claimed MP is the first state in the country to start such a scheme for children and aged people whose kin died in the pandemic. Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday reported 8,970 new cases of COVID-19 and 84 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 7,00,202 and the death toll to 6,679, as per the state health department.

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