Highlights:
- Of the 30,071 children, 15,620 are boys, 14,447 girls and four are transgenders.
- The majority of the children, 11,815, are between the ages of 8 and 13, with 5,107 being between the ages of 4 and 7.
Between April 1 last year and June 5 this year, while the country was combating two waves of Covid-19, 3,621 children were orphaned, 26,176 lost either parent, and 274 were abandoned, according to an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court by the National Commission for Child Rights (NCPCR).
15,620 boys, 14,447 girls, and four transgender children are among the 30,071 children in need of care and protection, according to the Commission.
The majority of the children, 11,815, are between the ages of 8 and 13, with 5,107 being between the ages of 4 and 7.
Following a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, states and Union Territories uploaded the data to the NCPCR’s “Bal Swaraj” portal.
Maharashtra has 7,084 children “in need of care and protection,” according to the state breakdown. With 3,172 children affected, Uttar Pradesh ranks second, followed by Rajasthan with 2,482. Haryana (2,438), Madhya Pradesh (2,243), and Kerala (2,002) are the other states with more than 2,000 children affected.
On May 28, the court demanded states and UTs to submit data on the number of children affected since March 2020, while hearing a suo motu lawsuit on the welfare of children in protective homes in the aftermath of the Covid-19. As a result, on May 31, the Commission filed an affidavit in court with data received until May 29. This is the second affidavit with revised numbers in the issue.
Also Read: New Covid-19 Variant B.1.1.28.2 Detected In India By NIV Pune
The Supreme Court pulled up West Bengal and Delhi on Monday after the Commission’s Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj told a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Anirudha Bose that the two governments were not uploading information to the portal.
“You saw the order that we passed… We stated that we would collect information on children who became orphaned after March 2020 and upload the information. All of the other states have fully comprehended the issue and have uploaded the data. “How come just West Bengal does not grasp the order?” the Bench questioned the state counsel.
The Delhi government, according to advocate Chirag Shroff, is solely reliant on data provided by Child Welfare Committees, as opposed to other states where departments directly provide data to District Magistrates, making the information more comprehensive.
The Court remarked that several states have formed district task groups involving officers from the revenue department, the District Collector, and other officials, and that Delhi can do the same.
The Commission also asked the court to order all states and UTs not to make any personal information on children available to the public or to any person, business, or organisation that could put them at risk of trafficking, abuse, or illegal adoption.
