51% of applications under PM Cares scheme for Covid orphans rejected

9,331 applications were received for scheme, according to data shared by the Women and Child Development Ministry

Of more than 9,300 applications submitted under PM Cares for Children scheme for Covid-19 orphans, a little over 4,500 have been approved, said officials on Tuesday.

According to shared by the Women and Child Development Ministry as many as 9,331 applications from 613 districts in 33 states and union territories (UTs) were received under this scheme. A total of 4,781 applications, or 51 per cent, of them were rejected while 18 are pending approval.

PM CARES for Children Scheme, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in May 2021 during the peak of Covid-19 pandemic, was aimed to support children who lost their parents, a legal guardian, adoptive parents, or a surviving parent to the pandemic between March 11, 2020 to May 5, 2023.

 

The ministry did not cite any specific reason for rejecting these applications.

Which state submitted highest PM Cares for Children scheme applications?

Rajasthan emerged as the leading state in applications, submitting 1,553 requests, followed closely by Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. In Rajasthan, only 210 applications were approved, the data showed. The approval rate in Maharashtra stood at 855 while 1,511 applications were submitted.

In Uttar Pradesh, 467 of the around 1,000 applications were approved.

The scheme is aimed to provide the eligible children with the necessary financial support till the age of 23.

According to the provisions of the scheme, the Centre intends to create a corpus of Rs 1,000,000 for every child when they reach 18 years of age. For the next five years till the age of 23, the children are eligible for a monthly stipend to be able to take care of their needs.

“On reaching the age of 23 years, he or she will get the corpus amount as one lump-sum for personal and professional use,” a statement from the ministry says.

The scheme had been made accessible to the citizens through a digitally dedicated online portal: pmcaresforchildren.in.

(With inputs from PTI)