PM Cares for Children Scheme, 2021 is an initiative of the Central Government to take care and support those children who have lost both parents, legal guardians, adoptive parents, or single adoptive parents in the wave of the pandemic Covid-19. The scheme was launched on 29th May 2021. According to the report, the number of orphan children at that time was 10,094 who needed care and the number of children who lost either of their parents was 1,36,910 along with 488 orphan children which makes the total number of 1,47,492 who needed support. The Ministry of Women and Child Development is in charge of the scheme at the central level. The Department of the State and Union Territory along with the Juvenile Justice Department will be in charge of the scheme at the State Level. The nodal authority at the district level is the district magistrate.
Who is Eligible?
The following children who have lost their parents due to the Covid-19 pandemic will be eligible to avail of the benefits of this scheme.
- Those who have lost both parents
- Those who have lost the surviving parent
- Those who have lost their legal guardian
- Those who have lost their adoptive parents
- Those who have lost their single adoptive parent
The data will be counted from 11th March 2020. One fact has to be kept in mind that the child cannot be 18 years old or above on the date of the demise of the parent(s).
What is The Objective of The PM Cares for Children Scheme, 2021?
The sole objective of the central government is to take care of the comprehensive well-being of these children. Children are the future of the country. Therefore, the Indian Government wants to look after their health and tries to find out a solution through this scheme so that their education does not get hampered. On top of that, this scheme ensures that the children get enough financial support till they reach the age of 23.
Major Highlights of PM Cares for Children Scheme, 2021
Here Are The Important Mentions.
- With the help of this scheme, the government will strive to create a corpus of Rs. 10 lakhs for each eligible child so that this money can be used as their monthly financial support or as a stipend that they can use for the next 5 years from the age of 18 years. They can use this money for their higher educational purpose. Or else, when they reach the age of 23, they can use this lump sum amount for their personal and professional purposes.
- There is a special provision for children below 10 years of age. This fund will be used to admit the children to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or any private school and to run the education. For the private schools, the school fees will be given from this fund as per the RTE norms and regulations. The PM Care fund will also be responsible for the expenditure of textbooks, school uniforms, etc.
- If the child ages between 11 and 18 years, then the child will be given admission to any residential central school such as Navodaya Vidyalaya, Sainik School, etc. if the child has any guardian and does not want any residential school, then he/she will be admitted to the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or any private school. The expenditure will be as per the norms of RTE.
- If the child wants higher education, this scheme will also help him/her in this situation. he/she can take loans as per the norms of Indian Education Loan for higher education or to do any professional course. The interest will be given by the PM Care fund. There is an alternative as well. Any sort of scholarship under the central government or state government will be given to the child as per the rules of that scholarship. If the child is not eligible for the scholarship then the PM Care fund will fund the equivalent scholarship for the eligible child.
- Under this scheme, all the children will be enrolled under the Ayushman Bharat Scheme as beneficiaries. The health insurance cover will be Rs. 5 lakhs. The government will pay the premium that has to be paid for the health insurance till the age of 18 years.
- The scholarship that will be provided to the child will be Rs. 20000 which will be paid at the beginning of each academic session, yearly. The monthly allowance of Rs. 1000 and Rs. 8000 will be the yearly allowance to cover the expenses of books, uniforms, and other necessary educational items.
How To Avail of PM Cares for Children Scheme, 2021?
Pmcaresforchildren.in. is the online portal through which one can enrol him/herself for the scheme. On 15th July 2021, the portal was introduced to all states and union territories. The central government has asked the state governments and union territories to identify such eligible children and to register them under this scheme. Any individual can also inform the concerned authority about the eligible child in his/her knowledge.
