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The Supreme Court on Monday directed the District Child Protection Units to ensure that there is no impediment to the Children claiming benefits under the schemes who have lost one or both parents.

A bench of Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice BR Gavai further directed that the State Government shall inform about the efforts being made out by the authorities to reach out to these children. Court noted that the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) report shows that 10793 have become orphans and 151322 have lost at least one parent.

The bench was hearing the suo-motu cognizance taken by the apex court in regards to the children who are in street situations and who have lost their parents to Covid- 19.

Amicus Curie Gaurav Agarwal had circulated a note seeking directions on the basis of the report submitted by the NCPCR. Agarwal informed the bench that several complaints have been received stating that the children who have lost either one or two parents are left out in the identification process and are not getting benefits of the scheme.

Therefore, Court also directed the State Governments and Union Territories to complete the preparation of the Social Investigation Report for the children who have been identified.

The bench was also informed that 19000 letters have been written by NCPCR to the authorities, whereas, only 1927 action taken report has been received from the authorities. To this, the bench directed the State Governments to ensure compliance and file a status report on the same within 2 weeks.

An earlier Status Report filed through Advocate Swarupama Chaturvedi stated that the total number of identified children who have lost either of their parents is 162625. It added that the NCPCR has been receiving complaints regarding children in different States/UTs for the past few months.

"These are mostly those children, who have been left out from the identification process and consequently, have not been linked to any scheme/benefits. Some of these complaints are in fact regarding children who have lost both or either of the parent to Covid-19," the report added.

Earlier, the Court had directed the District Magistrates to involve the Special Juvenile Police Units, District Legal Service Authority, and the volunteer organization in the identification of children in the street situations without any further delay.

Cause Title: In Re Children in Need of Care and Protection due to Loss of Parents During COVID-19