New Delhi: The Delhi Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, continuing with its groundwork of gathering data on children orphaned and disadvantaged by the pandemic, has now identified as many as 2,029 children in the Capital, who have lost either one or both of their parents to Covid — a lot of these through a dedicated helpline it had set up in April.
While the helpline number, 9311551393, was initially started to lodge grievances and SOS requests related to children's needs, it also helped officials reach children distressed by the virus. According to data gathered by the agency and seen by Millennium Post, the helpline received nearly 4,500 complaints in the three months since it began.
Of the over 2,000 kids who have lost parents to the virus, 67 children are those who have lost both their parents, 651 have lost their mothers and as many as 1,311 have lost their fathers.
"The details of these children have been shared with the Department of Women and Child Development for necessary action on their part and ensuring enrolling the eligible beneficiary in the scheme notified by the Delhi government for children who have lost their parents due to Covid," one official said.
Meanwhile, the DCPCR said that of the 4,500 complaints they had received on their all-day functional helpline, 2,200 were of the SOS category that needed attention on an urgent basis. These SOS complaints consisted mainly of children and families in urgent need of essential supplies such as ration, medical emergencies, cases of abandoned children, Covid testing related requirements.
The SoS complaints were immediately catered to by a designated team within the commission and it was ensured that all these complaints were addressed within 24 hours. "Around 85 per cent of the SoS complaints were successfully resolved within 24 hours while the remaining 15 per cent were resolved within 72 hours," the data showed.
Anurag Kundu, Chairperson, DCPCR said overall in the last three months, their helpline has enabled the Commission to reach out to more and more children and their families and it has made the Commission more accessible.
He stressed that this was just the beginning and the helpline has a long way to go to firmly establish itself as a useful and reliable medium. Going by the current trend, Kundu said, the Commission is preparing to receive nearly 20,000 complaints in the ongoing year. "This is nearly 1,300 per cent of the average of the past 3 years and is 2.5 times the complaints commission has received in 12 years. This shows how the DCPCR has become accessible to ordinary citizens and commands their confidence," he added.