Guidelines Issued To Protect Children Affected By Covid

COVID-19: The guidelines define the roles of states, district magistrates, police and other institutions in the protection of the children.

The government has come out with guidelines for the care and protection of the children affected by COVID-19 and fixed responsibilities for the states, district magistrates, police, Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies. In a letter to the chief secretaries of all the states and Union territories, Women and Child Development Ministry Secretary Ram Mohan Mishra on Wednesday said in order to streamline and facilitate the actions being taken, the major responsibilities of the primary duty holders have been enlisted to ensure the best interest of children during the pandemic. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), in an affidavit to the Supreme Court, said 9,346 children have lost at least one of the parents to the deadly virus, including over 1,700 who have lost both their parents, according to data received from the states. Defining the roles of the states, district magistrates (DMs), police, Panchayati Raj institutions and urban local bodies, Mr Mishra issued detailed guidelines.