PM CARES Scheme: Over 4,000 Children Have Received Benefits, Says Smriti Irani

The Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani,  informed the Lok Sabha on Friday, February 10, that the central government has credited Rs 341.87 crore to the accounts of 4,345 eligible children under the PM CARES scheme. She spoke about the allocation of funds from the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations (PM CARES) scheme, reported a leading news daily.

The fund was established in 2020 to support children who have lost their parents or legal guardians due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The care provided includes health insurance and education. It aims to equip these children with the resources they need to live self-sufficient lives, with financial support until they are 23 years old.

Irani said that as of January 2023, as many as 3,962 students from classes 1-12 have received the scholarship, with the highest number of recipients in Maharashtra (727 students), followed by Uttar Pradesh (411 students) and Madhya Pradesh (390 students).

Under the scheme, children who are staying with relatives are receiving a monthly stipend of Rs 4,000 under the Mission Vatsalya Scheme. “A pro-rata amount has been credited in the post office account of each identified child in such a manner that the corpus for each child becomes Rs 10 lakhs at the time of attaining 18 years of age. Children are entitled to receive a monthly stipend between the age of 18 and 23 years, by investing the corpus of Rs 10 lakhs into the monthly income scheme of the post office,” the minister said.

Irani further told the Lower House of the Parliament that these students will also have access to admission to the nearest schools, such as Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan or Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya. They can avail the benefits of the Swanath Scholarship Scheme implemented by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE). This scheme provides an annual scholarship of Rs 50,000 for every year of study. As of January, the Mission Vatsalya Scheme has already provided an annual scholarship of Rs 20,000 each to 3,962 school-going children of Class 1-12, stated the report.

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