Lancet report intends to create panic among citizens, findings have no correlation with ground reality: Smriti Irani

Dismissing the Lancet reports giving details of children affected by COVID-19 associated orphanhood, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani on Wednesday said that these findings have no correlation with ground reality in India as reflected from the data collected from the field.

In an article released on February 24, Lancet has reported that more than 19 lakh children have lost their primary caregivers due to coronavirus infection in India.

"There is no doubt that the researchers have used sophisticated methodology to estimate the numbers of children, who have lost their primary caregivers, but these findings have no correlation with ground reality in India as reflected from field findings," said the Union Minister.

As per field data coming from the States/UTs and being compiled as per the directions and monitoring of the Supreme Court, the numbers for India are about 1.53 lakhs.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) furtherance to its function as a monitoring authority under section 109 of the Juvenile Justice Act, was asked to set up a portal called "Bal Swaraj" where this data has to be uploaded, informed an official statement issued by the ministry.

Accordingly, NCPCR has been continuously tracking all the children who have lost their parents (either one or both) due to any reason and children who have been abandoned since April 1, 2020.

So far, 1,53,827 children have been registered on the portal including 1,42,949 children with a single parent, 492 abandoned children and 10,386 children who have lost both their parents, as per the government data released on February 15 this year.

Further, NCPCR examined the data being filed on the portal and necessary communications are established with the district and state-level authorities on a regular basis.

Earlier on May 29 last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced comprehensive support for children who have lost both their parents due to COVID 19 pandemic.

So far, a total of 4,196 children have been identified and approved for obtaining the benefits of the PM Cares for Children Scheme, the ministry added.

( With inputs from ANI )

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