30,000 children orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned in over a year: NCPCR to SC

More than 30,000 children were orphaned, lost a parent or were abandoned in over a year, the National Commission for Child Rights (NCPCR) has said in an affidavit in the Supreme Court. Of 30,071 such children, 26,176 children lost a parent, 3,621 were orphaned and 274 abandoned. The data is for period between April 1, 2020, and June 5, 2021. NCPCR said that deaths of parents could be due to other causes too, apart from Covid-19. Madhya Pradesh had 706 orphaned children, the highest reported among states, followed by Rajasthan (671), Uttar Pradesh (383), Bihar (308) and Odisha (241),

Among states that have reported numbers of children left with just one parent, Maharashtra has 6,865, Uttar Pradesh 2,784, Andhra Pradesh 1,923, Rajasthan 1,801 and Bihar 1,326. Kerala reported 65 orphans and 1,931 children with single parent. The court found problems in data given by Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Delhi, which reported. TN said the state saw 45 orphans and 757 children who lost a parent, while it was 3 and 5, for West Bengal and Delhi, respectively. "We have written to states to give us accurate data before the next hearing in July," said NCPCR chairman Priyank Kanoongo.

Kanoongo told ET that NCPCR has put in place a digital portal, Bal Swaraj, for states to easily give data. "We have been facing issues only with Bengal and Delhi. We have counted deaths of parents due to all reasons, including Covid-19 so that no child is left out," he said.


The Centre and states are working to operationalise schemes for welfare of orphaned children. Over 39% of the children are aged between 8 and 13 and nearly 8,000 under 7. Children in the age-group of 8-13 are mostly with family members, the NCPCR affidavit said. It also said 277 children were abandoned. Among children classified ‘in need of care and protection,’ 15,620 were boys, 14,447 girls and four transgenders.

Kanoongo said the data will help in expediting the process of rehabilitation of the children. "There are cases where parents have died but left behind small businesses or a house, and in some cases, more than two children. We are asking our officials to study every case to adopt a solution best for the children."

While the Centre told the Supreme Court on Monday that it needed some more time to apprise the court of the modalities on the recently launched 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme for kids orphaned by Covid-19, 18 other states too have announced monetary relief for children, but in most cases, the beneficiaries are being identified now.

A top official in MP that has registered the highest number of orphans in the last one year said the mapping of every district to identify children affected by Covid-19 has been going on for many months and 237 children have been registered as beneficiaries. "Our number is high because we have data from every village," the official added. The state government has already announced that it will provide free education and an allowance of `5,000 per month to children whose parents died of Covid-19.