THE Maharashtra Government would form a task force in every district to protect children orphaned by COVID-19, an official said on Monday. The task force will be headed by Collectors and will comprise commissioners of civic bodies, police chiefs, rural health officials etc of the district, a State Government release said. Maharashtra Women and Child Development Minister Yashomati Thakur said children getting orphaned due to COVID-19 was becoming a social problem, adding that the State Government would ensure they are nurtured, get protection as well as education. HC seeks response of Centre on PILs to protect children orphaned due to COVID: CHILDREN orphaned due to COVID-19 should be protected and guarded against being trafficked till they are legally adopted, two PILs have urged the Delhi High Court, which sought the response of the Centre and the Delhi Government on the issue.

 

A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh issued notices to the Union ministries of home affairs, women and child development and health, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government in Delhi and the city police, seeking their stand on one of the pleas moved by a lawyer, which has also asked for financial assistance for the families of the patients who died due to the alleged denial of healthcare such as hospital admissions, oxygen and medications.

 

The court also issued notices to the Centre, the Delhi government, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) and the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR) on another PIL filed by another lawyer, who has sought the laying down of action plans or guidelines for rehabilitating abandoned children and children whose parents have succumbed to COVID-19 or any other causes in order to prevent child-trafficking during the pandemic.