Over 30,000 Children Affected Due To Covid Pandemic: Child Rights Body Tells Supreme Court

COVID-19: Of the total, 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,621 have been orphaned and 274 have been abandoned, the NCPCR said.

As many as 30,071 children were orphaned, lost a parent or abandoned mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic as per data submitted by different states till June 5, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) informed the Supreme Court on Monday. Of the total, 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,621 have been orphaned and 274 have been abandoned, the NCPCR said. The commission further said that the state-wise data received regarding children who have lost either their mother or father or both parents from April 1, 2020 to June 5, 2021, irrespective of their reason of death (not only death due to COVID-19), was uploaded on its "Bal Swaraj" portal and collated by it. It said Maharashtra has been worst affected with 7,084 children being orphaned, abandoned or have lost a parent mostly to the deadly virus since April 1 last year.