Pay fees for COVID orphans, SC tells States

Use PM Cares for private school expenses

The Supreme Court has ordered State governments to bear the private school fee of children who have lost both or one parent during the pandemic for the current academic year in case the schools refused to waive it. “The catastrophe caused by the cataclysmic COVID-19 has devastated many lives, especially children at a tender age who have lost their parents. More than a lakh children have lost either or both parents during this pandemic. It is heart-wrenching to note that the survival of so many children is at stake… The State has a duty and obligation to facilitate education for children,” a Bench led by Justice L. Nageswara Rao observed in a 27-page order published late on Friday. The order recorded that States have identified and registered 2,600 COVID-affected children eligible to get education benefits under the PM CARES For Children scheme. The court said it was open for States to request the Centre to bear the fee and other expenses pertaining to their education for the present academic year.