Question : SCHEMES FOR ORPHAN DESTITUTE CHILDREN

(a) the number of orphan and destitute children in the country at present, State/ UT wise;

(b) the details of the schemes/programmes being run for welfare and rehabilitation of such children along with salient features thereof;

(c) the funds sanctioned, released and utilised by the States/UTs for the purpose during each of the last three years and the current year;

(d) whether many NGOs/Societies/Individuals are running orphanages in the country on their own if so, the details thereof along with financial assistance given to these NGOs during the said period, State/UT-wise; and

(e) the monitoring mechanism put in place by the Government for proper and effective implementation of the said scheme along with other steps taken to make the scheme more beneficial?

MINISTER OF WOMEN AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT (SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI)

(a): There is no authentic data available centrally regarding the number of orphans and destitute children in the country.

(b): The Ministry of Women and Child Development is implementing the centrally sponsored Integrated Child Protection Scheme (ICPS) for rehabilitation and reintegration of children in difficult circumstances including, orphan and destitute children. Under ICPS, financial assistance is provided to State Governments/ UT Administrations for both institutional care and non- institutional care, such as adoption, sponsorship and foster-care for such children. Accordingly, grants are provided for setting up and maintenance of Homes of various types, adoption agencies as well as Open Shelters in Urban and Semi-Urban areas, wherein children are provided with services required for ensuring their well being and development such as shelter, food, education, vocational training, counseling etc.

(c): The funds sanctioned, released and utilised by the States/UTs under ICPS during each of the last three years and the current year is at Annexure-I.
(d): The number of the NGOs/Societies running orphanages in the country and receiving financial assistance under ICPS is at Annexure-II. No funds are released directly to the NGOs/Societies under ICPS. The details of the funds sanctioned, released to the States/UTs includes the funds earmarked for the orphanages run by NGOs also, the funds to the NGOs are further released by the States/UTs.

(e): ICPS provides for setting up of Committees at State, District, Block and Village levels for monitoring the implementation of the Scheme. Further, the implementation of ICPS in States/UTs is reviewed by the Ministry in the meetings of the inter-ministerial Project Approval Board (PAB) constituted under ICPS for considering and approving the proposals received from States/UTs under the Scheme. In addition, Regional Consultations are organised by the Ministry with various stake holders to review the progress of implementation and to promote cross learning of best practices under the Scheme.