Legal guardians of Covid-orphaned kids seek govt hand-holding

The lives of children who lost both their parents to Covid or a sole surviving parent to the disease has taken a 180 degrees turn with the void their parents’ passing has left behind. DH spoke to some legal guardians.

A 61-year-old Basavanagouda now cares for his 11-year-old grandson and 12-year-old granddaughter after his daughter and son-in-law both passed away due to Covid in May, last year. The farmer drops them at school in the morning, takes them back home in the afternoon, feeds them and drops them off at a tutorial class while his wife works.

A resident of Maranna Layout, Doddabidarakallu, Basavanagouda has received Rs 50,000 Covid compensation for his son-in-law Kallesh M B’s death, he hasn’t got any aid for his daughter’s death. The couple died on May 5 and May 16 respectively.

CORONAVIRUS UPDATES ONLY ON DH

“We are staying in Bengaluru now because we wanted our grandkids to continue in the same private school they were into before their parents died. Originally, we are farmers from Vijayanagara district,” he said.

The women and child welfare department has assured to pay 80% of the Covid-orphaned kids’ fee, but he’s worried about funding their education come April with the beginning of a new financial year.

“They said my daughter’s Covid death compensation application is under review. Meanwhile, I have already paid fees for the current academic year. The department says it will inform him about paying the 80% fee in the next academic year,” he said.

“The kids remember the time they spent with their parents every now and then. It will be really helpful if their school fee is paid fully, which is Rs 45,000 per head,” he added.

In another part of the city, a 33-year-old man cares for his 13-year-old cousin as her legal guardian after her father, the sole surviving parent, passed away.

“She was so vexed with the repeated questions asked by the child welfare committee about the conditions surrounding her father’s Covid death, that she disconnected video calls from the committee. This resulted in her compensation application getting rejected once,” the man told DH, requesting anonymity.

Having gotten his maternal uncle’s death compensation of Rs 50,000 now, he said, “She lost her mother when she was a baby. She had already been taking treatment for fits at NIMHANS before her father died in April last year due to Covid. Apart from the tuition fee, there are costs involved for admission fee, books, shoes, sweaters, stationery and project costs. It can’t be covered with Rs 3,500 per month from Bala Seva Yojane,” he said.

Check out latest coronavirus-related videos from DH: