Supreme Court seeks details of welfare scheme for orphans under PM Cares; asks Central govt for list of beneficiaries under the scheme

In the suo motu case concerning spread of COVID-19 in child care institutions, the Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Central government to provide details of the PM Cares scheme launched to provide financial and educational assistance to children who were orphaned during pandemic. .A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Aniruddha Bose specifically sought clarity on who would be the beneficiaries under the scheme. .The order was passed after the Amicus Curiae in the case, Gaurav Agrawal submitted that a recent scheme from PM Cares has been launched as per which the funds from PM Cares will be used to render financial help to orphaned children for their higher education and Rs. 10 lakh will be made available when they become 23 and health insurance will be extended when they turn 18..However, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, representing the Central government, informed the Bench that the modality of the scheme is yet to be worked out. ."Amicus in his note referred to the scheme PM Cares for children. According to the available information, children who have lost both parents or survived by legal guardian or adopted parents will be the beneficiaries of the scheme of the central government. As the particulars of the scheme is not available, Amicus submitted that the centre be directed to furnish the necessary details about the scheme announced by PM. We order accordingly," the order said. .The Central government had, on May 29, decided that children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to COVID-19 will be supported under "PM-CARES for Children" scheme, which will take care of their educational needs including higher education.Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a meeting to discuss the steps required for the same and announced a number of benefits for children impacted by the current pandemic..As per the same, 'PM CARES' will contribute through a specially designed scheme to create a corpus of Rs 10 lakh for each child when he or she reaches 18 years of age, which will be used to give a monthly financial support from 18 years of age, for the next five years to take care of his or her personal requirements during the period of higher education.On attaining the age of 23, he or she will get the corpus amount in a lumpsum for personal and professional use, said the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in a statement. The scheme will also take responsibility for the educational needs of such children, as they will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar..The Amicus Curiae, however, told the Court that there is lack of clarity regarding who would be beneficiaries under the said scheme. The Court, therefore, sought details from Central government on who exactly would be eligible for the scheme. .Further, the Court also directed States of Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Gujarat, Rajasthan, UP, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand to appoint a nodal officer at the level of a secretary or joint secretary to coordinate with the Amicus Curiae regarding the orphans and the schemes in place at the State level to uplift them.."Amicus shall submit a detailed report about the present situation relating to orphans of above states by Sunday , June 6, evening. List this matter for further consideration on Monday (June 7)," the Court directed. .The top court had asked all the State governments last week to take charge of children who have been orphaned in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic without waiting for its orders..Meanwhile, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights stated in their affidavit that over 9,400 children have been orphaned due to COVID-19 pandemic.