Initiative by Dadhichi Dehdaan Samiti: 582 Covid orphans in Bihar to get financial aid, edu for three years

Altogether 582 children in the state, who lost their parents during the first or the second wave of the pandemic, will be given ₹500 a month for sustenance, besides education for three years, announced Dadhichi Dehdaan Samiti, a group of social activists, here on Tuesday.

To provide them financial support, a total of 153 donors from different parts of the state have come forward. “We have a list of 153 donors who have agreed to support such children. But very soon we will achieve the target of providing support to 1,000 such children, “ Sushil Kumar Modi, former deputy chief minister of state and patron of the Dadhichi Dehdaan Samiti, said.

The Samiti had earlier announced to provide financial support of ₹500 a month to 1,000 children who lost either one or both the parents during the Covid-19 pandemic.

These children will be given this kind of support for three years, Modi added.

Modi said Samiti has been the first organisation that has launched this kind of financial support for the children of the Covid victims.

Bimal Jain, Dehdaan Samiti general secretary, said that out of the target of 1,000 children, only 582 have been identified now.

“We are trying to achieve the target of 1,000 within a month. The Dehdaan Samiti has released today a contact number through which families with such children may contact the Samiti for support,” he said.

The Samiti will also welcome more donors for the programme, he added.

Modi said, “Altogether 1,624 children got homeless because of losing one or both parents during the first and second wave of the pandemic,” he said.

Total 36 children lost both parents during the pandemic and while 1,286 children lost their fathers, altogether 302 children lost mothers due to the virus, he added.