- Tuesday, March 04, 2025
By: Pramod Kumar
EXPERTS have warned that Covid orphans in India from poor families in remote areas may face the risk of human trafficking and child marriage in the long run, reported the New York Times.
Activists fear that when the attention inevitably fades, the orphans will be left susceptible to neglect and exploitation, the report added.
More than 3,000 children were orphaned during the Covid-19 pandemic in the country, according to state governments.
States have announced a compensation of about $7 to $68 per month for each orphan, along with promises of food and free education. Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed in a tweet to “ensure a life of dignity and opportunity” for the children.
According to the report, the children, shellshocked in some cases from the loss of their entire families, have found it difficult to obtain death certificates to qualify for government benefits. Some will also find it hard to return to school.
Adoption is another option for these kids but cultural taboos and age of children may become obstacles, it said.
“The government is trying to save its face as the catastrophic tragedy ravaged India,” Medha Pande, a law student at Delhi University who has written about sociolegal issues arising from the pandemic, told The Times.
“They came out looking unprepared. They are just creating a subgroup out of a larger group of vulnerable children, saying they can easily look after them.”
