In April 2021, when Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA) posted its helpline numbers for children in distress, it received over 416 calls in ten days. On the other hand, a brief therapy service opened by The Indian Express received calls from hundreds of distressed young adults who were battling Covid-19 and its aftermaths. It is also coming to light that 5-8% of cases of children in distress are related to them losing one or both parents, and 92-95% of cases involve a wider range of child rights violations such a child labour, child marriage, child trafficking, sexual abuse, transaction sex in exchange for food and so on. While there is no doubt that Covid-19 has led to an unprecedented loss of life, health, livelihood, learning and more, for a child, however, this pandemic is leaving a more magnified and prolonged impact on their safety, mental capacities and future well-being.
The impact is exacerbated for children in adversity with little or no safety nets. Adolescents and young adults are reporting substantially greater rates of mental distress and an increase in substance abuse, suicidal thoughts, and behaviours. The knots of inequalities forged by the gendered impact of the pandemic has only exacerbated, especially the impact on girls. CRY (North) found a jump in the numbers of missing children in its reports, where 82.54% of the 7386 youngsters missing were girls. Furthermore, between April 2020 and March 2021, 1,355 incidents of child marriage were averted in Telangana, a 27% increase.
In these circumstances, it will be difficult to only depend on a stretched government machinery and we have to activate our community support mechanisms as caring, compassionate adults. The law, the Juvenile Justice Act, and the Integrated Child Protection Services Scheme both propose citizens coming together to work proactively to form groups that make communities safe spaces that nurture and protect children by addressing and finding solutions for existing issues locally.
Kinship Care
It is recommended that for children who have been orphaned, the first step is to identify unrelated families/individuals who are willing to provide kinship care for the child and are temporarily approved as “Fit Persons” by the district’s Child Welfare Committee. This will ensure that they stay with their families or in the community while adhering to legal guidelines and do not have to enter the system. Institutional case systems can only be considered as a last resort if no other support systems can be activated.
Community Care
The second is to locate at-risk families in our neighbourhoods (such as single parents, families without any source of livelihood, living in extreme poverty, other medical issues, disability, mental illness, etc.) and activate community support systems for them. Neighbours coming in to help and support the family in distress will help strengthen the child’s safety net and build their confidence. Working with local NGOs, the focus can be on activating social protection systems like the Public Distribution Scheme, MNREGS, Pensions, and Sponsorship to tide over the difficult time. At the same time, it is also crucial to keep track of how the child and family are doing.
Eco-System Care
Beyond the immediate family and the community, it is also important to activate governments to prioritise schemes to support children and family in distress. We are beginning to see some of these already activated and it will be important for NGOs to ensure that these schemes reach the most vulnerable populations. For good measure, the government and NGOs have mobilised 7 million Self-help Groups (SHGs) to cater to over 75 million households promoting sustainable and diverse livelihoods. SHGs in Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttar Pradesh, and Kerala have been providing essential commodities and services to the community during the nationwide lockdown, like “ready to eat” take-home meals, dry rations, and vegetables. Kudumbashree, a Kerala-based SHG, have experimented with “floating supermarkets,” in which boats were employed as floating stores to distribute essential supplies to locations only accessible by water. In Bengaluru, Motherhood Hospital partnered with Dream India Network, Whitefield Rising, and Aahan Vaahan to provide medical care to children in need of rehabilitation and protection infected with Covid-19 with Quarantine centres and Children’s Covid Care Centre.
Over and above, joining in the response, the Karnataka government announced a plan to help children who have lost one or both parents to Covid-19 and those placed in isolation while their parents remain in hospitals. They are expected to build Covid care centres to support children up to the age of 18 if their extended family is unable to care for them. A mentorship program would also be developed to match orphaned children with persons committed to mentor or support them financially and otherwise. Different state governments like in Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh are quickly enforcing various Covid support schemes in the form of food and ration supply, loans, direct deposits, foster care assistance for children, free education and other aids to respond to and manage the pandemic. The just-launched ‘PM-CARES for Children’ scheme by the Centre also commits to assisting any child who has lost both parents or a surviving parent, legal guardian, or adoptive parents as a result of Covid 19. Furthermore, the government’s helpline for children – ChildLine (1098) is available 24/7 to handle crisis calls.
In conclusion, disrupting every facet of life and overloading the capacity of the essential health services of the country, the virus is now mutating to infect the young people of our society, our kids and adolescents. These innocent minds rendered vulnerable should not have to prepare for a disaster of this degree at such a young age. With the threat of a third wave lurking, even as the reality of the dead bodies on the riverbed of the Ganga remains fresh in our minds, we are, needless to say, racing against time. The vaccination drive needs a boost to reach all homes and children, for we might still be underprepared for the future lest we buckle up now and while we prepare ourselves, we have to recognize that it will take an entire nation of compassionate, caring adults to ensure our children are safe and can look forward to a future where each of them can thrive.
Rashi Nagelia is a student of Christ University and an intern with Dream a Dream.