In a span of three months, the Delhi Commission For Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) has tracked 2,029 who have either lost one or both of their parents to the Covid-19, officials informed.
The commission used a helpline number to trace such children.
The helpline was launched in April and has now completed three months of operations wherein more than 4,500 complaints have been reported.
“Of these 2,200 have been complaints of the SOS category which needed attention on urgent basis. These SOS complaints consisted of children/families in urgent need for essential supplies such as ration, medical emergencies, cases of abandoned children, covid testing related requirements etc,” Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR informed.
He also said that the commission has used the helpline to undertake various well-being surveys and identification of children who have lost their parents due to Covid-19 using data provided by the Health Department.
“We were able to trace more than 2029 children who have either lost one or both parents due to Covid. Of these, 67 children are those who have lost both their parents whereas 651 children have lost their mother due to Covid and 1311 have lost their father due to Covid,” Kundu shared.
“The details of these children have been shared with the Department of Women & Child Development for necessary action on their part and ensuring enrolling the eligible beneficiary in the scheme notified by the Delhi government for children who have lost their parents due to Covid,” he added.
Kundu also said that the helpline has a long way to go to firmly establish itself as a useful and reliable medium.
“Going by the current trend, the Commission will receive nearly 20,000 complaints in the ongoing year. This is nearly 1300% of the average of the past 3 years and is 2.5 times the complaints Commission has received in 12 years! This shows how DCPCR has become accessible to ordinary citizens and commands their confidence,” he added.