 "Children")
Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) said over 2,000 children have either lost one or both parents since the pandemic outbreak in March last year.
According to the survey carried out by DCPCR, "The Commission has been able to trace more than 2,029 children who have lost either one or both their parents due to COVID. Of these, 67 children are those who have lost both their parents, whereas 651 children have lost their mothers and 1,311 their fathers due to the disease."
The details of these children have been shared with the Department of Women and 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.
On DCPCR's all-day functional helpline number -- 9311551393, citizens can report any case or seek any information pertaining to child rights.
An official statement said the Commission has used this 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 Delhi government's Health Department.
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The DCPCR 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.," it added.
Around 85 per cent of the SOS complaints were successfully resolved within 24 hours while the remaining 15 per cent were resolved within 72 hours.
Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR said that overall in the last three months, the DCPCR helpline has enabled the Commission to reach out to more and more children and their families and made it more accessible and brought it closer to the children and their families.
"It is just the humble beginning and 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," he added.
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