Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan announces free education for kids orphaned due to COVID-19

Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced, "We will provide education free of cost to the children who have lost their parents. They will be provided free ration even if they are not eligible for it," assuring that his government will take care of those who lost their earning members during the pandemic.

Image courtesy: ANI

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh government on Thursday (May 13) decided to provide free education and a pension of Rs 5,000 per month to children whose parents died of COVID-19. In a statement to the media, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the state government will also stand as guarantor for those availing interest-free loans to start businesses.

The Chief Minister announced, "We will provide education free of cost to the children who have lost their parents. They will be provided free ration even if they are not eligible for it," assuring that his government will take care of those who lost their earning members during the pandemic.

He noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely hit many families. Children have lost their parents, while aged people are left alone as those taking care of them died due to the viral infection.

Chouhan said, "Our government will stand by such children and families and provide Rs 5,000 pension per month to them," adding that many aged people have lost their children, and they have no one to take care of them and they are facing problems of survival.

The Chief Minister said, "We can't leave such persons alone. They are now the responsibility of the Madhya Pradesh government," adding that "children who have lost their parents should not worry about their life. They are the children of the state and it will look after them." 

Home Minister Narottam Mishra claimed MP is the first state in the country to start such a scheme for children and aged people whose kin died in the pandemic.

Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday reported 8,970 new cases of COVID-19 and 84 fatalities, taking the tally of infections to 7,00,202 and the death toll to 6,679, as per the state health department. 

Notably, Madhya Pradesh is witnessing some cases of mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, a rare but serious infection, in the affected part that has to be surgically removed.

The state government doctors would hold consultations with their counterparts in the US on how to deal with cases of mucormycosis fungal infection among COVID-19 patients, Medical Education Minister Vishwash Kailash Sarang told media persons on Wednesday.

In some cases of mucormycosis, also known as black fungus, a rare but serious infection, the affected part has to be surgically removed, Sarang told PTI. A number of cases of fungal infection among COVID-19 patients have also been reported in neighbouring Maharashtra and Gujarat.

(With Agency Inputs)