AP govt. gears up to help children orphaned due to covid, identifies 351 children

The Director of Department of Women Development and Child Welfare Dr S Siri said that the state government was taking care of the orphans who lost their parents due to covid. She said the Centre was paying Rs 10 lakh through PM care and Rs. 10 lakh from state government in compensation (ex-gratia). A special program was organised in all the states of the country on Monday on the welfare and assistance of children orphaned due to covid.

On the occasion, Siri said in a statement that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made several suggestions to support children eligible for PM Cares. She said that the care and benefits of the affected children will be safeguarded till the age of 23 years and asserted that orphans will get state ex-gratia of Rs 10 lakh each for which 351 children across the state have been selected as eligible.

Among them, 56 are in West Godavari district, 45 in West Godavari district, 40 in Anantapur, 39 in Visakhapatnam, 28 in Krishna, 25 in YSR, 24 in Guntur, 24 in Nellore, 21 in Chittoor, 16 in Kurnool, 16 in Srikakulam and 9 in Vijayanagaram district were selected. In addition to financial assistance in PM Cares, a scholarship of Rs 50,000 per annum will be given for children's higher education, she said adding that they would give priority to admissions in KGVB, military schools and Navodaya Vidyalayas for school education.

Under the PM Cares for Children scheme, a special scholarship of Rs 20,000 per annum will be given by the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment to children going to school up to class 12. It is said the health insurance under AYUSHMAN Bharat Prime Minister's Jan Arogya Yojana would be provided per child per year. Among them, children between the ages of 18 and 23 will be given stipend.

He said the amount of Rs 10 lakh deposited by the government would be received by children above the age of 23 years. The government advised to visit: https://pmcaresforchildren.in/ for queries.