Bhubaneswar, July 9 (IANS) The opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday raised serious concerns over the alleged non-payment of financial assistance to more than 50,000 children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic since March this year.

In a press statement, the regional party condemned the state government over the alleged non-payment of financial assistance to children orphaned due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The party alleged that the state government is not only failing to provide pensions to the elderly, persons with disabilities and widows, but is also inhumanely failing to provide monthly financial assistance to young children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press statement, Media Coordinator and Spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said that during the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 50,000 children in the state lost their parents and became orphans.

For their care and upbringing, the then Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik introduced the Ashirbad Scheme, under which the state government provided monthly financial assistance to such children. Mohanty noted that children who had lost both parents due to COVID were being provided Rs 2,500 per month, while those who had lost either one of their parents were receiving Rs 1,500 per month.

He further underscored that this monthly financial assistance was credited directly to the bank accounts of the relatives caring for the orphaned children or to the institutions where the children resided.

“However, since March this year, the government has stopped releasing this financial assistance, creating a serious crisis in the care and upbringing of these children. Although the District Child Protection Officers have been playing a key role in implementing the Ashirbad Scheme, they are now expressing their helplessness as the government has stopped releasing the financial assistance,” added Mohanty.

The opposition BJD has demanded that the state government immediately release the pending dues along with the monthly financial assistance.

–IANS

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