Special funding for COVID-19 orphans for higher education

As Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free schooling, college and university scholarships and interest-free higher education loans for COVID-19 orphans, several state governments and some colleges and universities and educational foundations said they too will fund students who have lost parents or the family’s main breadwinner during the country’s catastrophic COVID-19 waves.

The second deadly wave that began in February this year surged in April and spiked in May, overwhelming hospitals and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Of India’s official count of 303,720 deaths from COVID-19 since March 2020 to 1 June 2021, around 140,000 occurred in the past seven weeks, with thousands more going uncounted.

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said on 26 May that 577 children had been orphaned due to COVID-19 since 1 April this year. She added that the government was committed to supporting and protecting every vulnerable child who lost parents to COVID.

These are the first official figures to emerge of the devastation to families caused by the pandemic second wave, although many experts said the numbers are likely to be far higher.

The state government of Maharashtra, hard-hit by COVID-19, said this week that as many as 2,290 children in the state lost one or both parents to the pandemic. It is setting up a task force for each of the state’s 36 districts to identify orphans and protect them from trafficking and exploitation.

Modi on 29 May announced a fund of INR1 million (US$13,700) specifically to support COVID orphans’ schooling through to university graduation or professional qualifications, including insurance cover and other benefits under the scheme called the PM CARES Fund – the Prime Minister’s Citizen Assistance and Relief in Emergency Situations Fund.

The benefits also include a stipend for five years for each child when over the age of 18, to fund personal needs during higher education.

“This will ensure children are not deprived of any opportunity and will pave the way for a secure future,” Irani tweeted following the announcement.

COVID-19 orphans will also be assisted in obtaining education loans for professional courses and higher education within India, with interest paid by the PM CARES Fund. As an alternative, scholarships equivalent to tuition or course fees for undergraduate or vocational courses will be provided, according to the statement from the Prime Minister’s Office.

PM CARES was created as a public charitable trust in March 2020 to address pandemic and future disaster needs with funds from donations. Donors have so far not been disclosed, although a number of celebrities and private companies have publicly announced support. For the fund, foreign donors are exempted from strict Foreign Contribution laws.

State-level schemes

State governments have also announced special support. Many of the initiatives at the state level are for children to be able to continue at schools, but colleges and universities are also announcing special schemes for COVID-19 orphans.

Punjab state said it would provide monthly stipends and free education up to graduation to children orphaned in the pandemic and families that have lost their only breadwinner. Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh said his government would ensure free education in government institutions for such students up to the age of 21 or graduation from college.

The Kerala state government in southern India announced immediate financial aid of INR300,000 to pandemic-orphaned children, and a monthly INR2,000 stipend until their 18th birthday. “The [state] government has also decided to bear the cost of their education up to the degree level,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

The state governments of Delhi, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh in central India – states that have been hard hit by the pandemic – announced similar schemes to sponsor education, with Delhi announcing monthly payments of INR2,500 until the age of 25.

Indira Gandhi University (IGU), a Haryana state institution, said it had created extra seats above its quotas in all departments for incoming students who lost parents to COVID-19. “In this time of crisis, IGU has come forward to help them in pursuing their higher studies. We have not only created a supernumerary seat in every department for them but also waived their fee on humanitarian grounds,” said Vice-Chancellor Surendra Kumar Gakhar.

The Jammu and Kashmir government also announced a special scholarship for pandemic-orphaned students. State Governor Manoj Sinha tweeted: “Children who have lost their parents to #COVID19 pandemic will be provided with a special scholarship by the government”, to help fund school and future college education.

Free private coaching for orphans

Students preparing for medical and engineering entrance exams who have lost parents or earning members of their family to COVID-19 will be provided with free coaching and accommodation in Kota, Rajasthan – a national centre for the coaching industry – for the tough entrance exams for Indian Institutes of Technology and medical schools.

Om Birla, speaker of the Lok Sabha – the lower house of parliament – and the MP for Kota, said he held a meeting in May with directors of private coaching academies in the city to broker an agreement to provide free coaching, accommodation and food to students from across the country who lost parents or an earning member of their family.

Naveen Maheshwari, director of the Allen Career Institute, said it will set up a relief fund of INR5 million (US$68,300) for families affected by the pandemic.

Amity University, a private institution in Noida on the outskirts of New Delhi, said it has created an endowment of INR5 billion so that students who lost an earning parent or both parents to COVID-19, can be funded to stay in their courses. A committee has been formed to evaluate requests for financial assistance.

University officials said they had received letters from 250 undergraduate and postgraduate students, informing them about having lost a parent during the pandemic and seeking financial assistance to continue their education. At least 20 said they had lost both parents.

Chancellor of Amity University Atul Chauhan told local media a large number of students had lost the family breadwinner. “A female student with us, whose brother is also studying in our engineering programme, called me and said her mother will now be able to afford the education of only one child after losing their father, the sole earner, to COVID.”

In 2019 Delhi University set up a scheme to provide full scholarships to students who have been orphaned or have both parents unemployed. University officials said the scheme will include students who lost parents during the pandemic.