"Take Care Of Children Orphaned By Covid": Supreme Court To States

The Supreme Court has asked data on such children to be uploaded on the national child rights body's website by tomorrow.

The Supreme Court today came to the rescue of children orphaned during the COVID-19 lockdown, both national and state level, saying their basic needs must be taken care of by the state governments. It directed them to identify children who have lost their parents or the family breadwinner following the nationwide lockdown imposed in March 2020. "Children in need must be taken care of...Understand their agony and address their needs immediately," a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose said today. It was hearing, suo motu, a case relating to Covid infection in child protection homes. Earlier, too, it had passed a series of orders on the matter. "The Covid pandemic has created an unprecedented situation and has a cascading effect on vulnerable children. Authorities must identify children who were orphaned due to the pandemic or otherwise and take steps to address their basic needs," the bench said. Amicus Curiae Gaurav Agrawal, assisting the court, had submitted a plea saying that a large number of children had been orphaned. He also cited media reports to suggest that illegal adoptions were taking place in the backdrop.