Bhopal: Rewa collector has appealed for donations from the public in order to provide financial assistance to the orphaned children under the sponsorship scheme.
As per the guidelines issued by Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Development Department, here is, however, no provision to seek such donations for sponsorship scheme launched by the government.
Collector Ilayaraja T has asked the people of Rewa to donate money generously to a savings bank account registered to the Red Cross Society for the scheme.
The collector took to Twitter to make this appeal and said, “It is our moral responsibility to provide for the education and health of destitute children. Earn merit by cooperating in the upbringing of poor and orphaned children through the sponsorship scheme”.
The government pays Rs 2,000 per month to the beneficiaries either by their own funds or by personal or organisational sponsorship, according to the guidelines.
Nevertheless, the district administration has launched the initiative of collective donations, promising to redirect the funds into the scheme.
The assistant director of the district women and child development department, Ashish Dwiwedi, told Free Press there were not enough volunteers in the city who were willing to sponsor any child for a period of at least one year.
The per-capita income of Rewa is very less compared to other districts of the state and there are not many people who can afford to provide for a child for a year, he said.
Therefore, the department needed to find a way to cope with the issue when collector Ilayaraja T thought of the initiative, he said.
Dwiwedi said in this manner there would be no load on a single person to provide for a child for one complete year.
The load would be divided and people who are able to provide limited funds will get the chance to support, he added.
The district administration had identified 40 children in March who were being taken care of under the scheme through government funds. The government will have to spend Rs 9.6 lakh to support 40 children for a year.
Now that the number of orphaned children has increased after the second wave of covid-19, the administration has again identified 70 children.
They include children who have been orphaned because of Covid-19, any other illness or accident. There are some children who suffer from AIDS. The department needs Rs 16.8 lakh to support the newly identified beneficiaries.
Dwiwedi said they have funds to support the children for the ongoing month, but do not have enough to keep the scheme running.
He said the donors will be given a list of children who have benefited through their collective donations every month so as to maintain transparency.
What is Sponsorship Scheme?
Children who have been orphaned or have been suffering due to any social, familial or accidental cause can benefit under the scheme. The government will provide them Rs 2,000 per month until they reach 18 years of age. A person or an organisation can sponsor one child or a group of children (maximum eight) via child protection unit for at least a period of one year.
