• Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a number of welfare measures for children who lost their parents to COVID-19.
• The welfare measures have been listed below:

Fixed Deposit in the name of the child 

• Government has announced “PM-CARES for Children” scheme under which fixed deposits will be opened in the names of such children from the PM-CARES fund.
• The total corpus of fund will be Rs 10 lakh for each child.
• This corpus will be used to give a monthly financial support/ stipend when the child reaches 18 years of age, for the next five years to take care of his or her personal requirements.
• Upon reaching the age of 23 years, the child will get the corpus amount as one lump sum for personal and professional use.

Education

• Children under 10 years will be given admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya or in a private school as a day scholar.
• Children between 11-18 years of age will be given admission in any central government residential school such as Sainik School and Navodaya Vidyalaya.
• For higher education, children will be assisted in obtaining education loan for professional courses or higher education in India according to existing norms. The interest on this loan will be paid from the PM-CARES fund.

Health Insurance

• Each child will be enrolled as a beneficiary under Ayushman Bharat Scheme (PM-JAY) with a health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh.
• The premium amount for these children will be paid by PM CARES, till they attain age of 18 years.