What : Portal for children affected due to COVID-19

By : The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR)

Details :

• The portal will be used to track children who have lost both their parents during COVID-19.
• The children who have lost family support or are without any ostensible means of subsistence are children in need of care and protection under Section 2(14) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and all procedures given under the Act for such children must be followed to ensure the well-being and best interest of children
• The “Bal Swaraj-COVID-Care” aims at tracking the children affected by COVID-19 right from their production before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), to the restoration of the children to their parent, guardian, or relative, and its subsequent follow-up.
• The Commission will be able to get information about whether the child is getting his/her entitlements, benefits, and entitled monetary gains, through the data filled in the portal by the District officers and State officers for each child.
• The “COVID-Care” link on the portal has been provided for the concerned officer or department to upload the data of such children.

What is recent news : Bal Swaraj portal shows details of nearly 10,000 children in the country in immediate need of care and protection. They include children aged between zero and 17 orphaned or abandoned during the COVID-19 pandemic since March 2020.