Maharashtra has been the worst affected state due to COVID-19 infection in both first and second waves even with a dip in Active cases the death is a major concern for the authorities.
In Maharashtra 2,290 children have either lost one or both their parents due to the coronavirus infection so far while 2,183 children lost one parent, 107 others lost both the parents during the pandemic, the sources in the state Women and Child Development Department said.
The government has got custody of 10 out of the 107 children as there is nobody to look after them, they said.
The government had set up a 10-member task force in each of the 36 districts in the state who lost their parents due to the pandemic.
The purpose of the task force is to oversee the arrangements of their shelter and supervise their adoption to ensure that there is no trafficking and exploitation. The government has also set up a helpline number to seek information about such children after getting inputs that anti-social elements were encouraging illegal adoption of such children for human trafficking.