Ganjam Administration Turns Saviour For Covid Orphaned Children

Berhampur: As we continue our fight against pandemic, the time has now come to salvage the destruction. The moment has come for us today to give succor to those who have lost their everything to Covid-19. The Ganjam District Administration, as part of its efforts to reach out to the affected, has started becoming a saviour for the children who lost their parents to Covid.

As part of this, Collector Vijay Amruta Kulange today visited a family of three children orphaned by the pandemic in Pattapur under Sanakhemundi Block. The three children – Sonali, Jaga Balia and Bhabana Reddy were orphaned when both of their parents G Upendra Reddy and G Sabita Reddy succumbed to the virus few days back. On behalf of the administration, Collector Kulange along with BDO Sanakhemundi Gayatry Dutta Nayak went to their house and discussed their difficulties. While assuring all the help to them, the collector handed over them monetary assistance of about Rs 45 thousand from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, Red Cross Fund and Gurukalyana Fund. He also instructed the officials to include them in various social welfare schemes of the government. The Collector also emphasized on the education of the children and instructed the authorities to give them a notepad for online education.

In another instance, Collector Kulange visited the house of an Anganwadi worker who died due to Covid-19 after giving birth to a baby girl. He, along with Kukudakhandi BDO Gadadhar Patra, went to the house of the AWW Diptimayee Devi in Padarballi in Lanjiya Panchayata under Kukudakhandi Block and assured all the help to the family. He also said that, as Diptimayee was a frontline worker, the administration will do the required as per guidelines to give her proper monetary compensation. He handed over an amount of Rupees Ten Thousand under the ICDS funds to the family and Rs 25 thousand will be deposited under the Sukanya Scheme in the name of the baby girl.

This comes just days after the Government of Odisha said that it would care for children whose parents had to be hospitalised due to COVID-19, apart from rehabilitating those orphaned. The district collectors will be the guardians of the orphan children. While more than 40 children have lost their both parents in the second wave of the pandemic, about 100 children have lost one of their parents. The government is also making efforts to give them monthly monetary assistance.