Vikrant Shekhawat : May 29, 2021, 05:24 PM
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday announced ₹5 lakh assistance to children who lost both the parents due to Covid-19, news agency ANI reported.With this, Tamil Nadu joined the league of states who have already announced financial assistance to children who lost their parents in the second wave of Covid pandemic.States like Delhi, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Uttarakhand, and Chhattisgarh have announced assistance for such children in one form or the other.While Delhi will bear the cost of education and upbringing of children who lost their parents, the Andhra Pradesh government will deposit ₹10 lakh for every child orphaned by infection.The Madhya Pradesh government said that it will provide free education and a pension of ₹5,000 per month to children whose parents died of Covid. He also said that children will be provided free ration even if they are not eligible for it.The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has asked all states and Union Territories (UTs) to upload required data of children who lost their parents to Covid-19 on the Bal Swaraj portal.On Wednesday, Women and child development minister Smriti Irani had said that 577 children across the country have been orphaned after their parents died of Covid-19.