PM CARES for Children Scheme launched in India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi released benefits under the PM CARES for children scheme via video conferencing.

The Prime Minister transferred scholarships to school-going children. A passbook of PM CARES for Children, and a health card under Ayushman Bharat - Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana have been handed over to the children during the programme.

PM CARES for Children Scheme was launched by the Prime Minister on May 29, 2021, to support children who have lost both their parents or legal guardian or adoptive parents or surviving parents to COVID-19 pandemic, during the period from March 11, 2020, to February 28, 2022.

According to Prime Minister's Office, the objective of the scheme is to ensure comprehensive care and protection of children in a sustained manner by providing them boarding and lodging, empowering them through education and scholarships, equipping them for self-sufficient existence with financial support of Rs 10 lakh on attaining 23 years of age and ensuring their wellbeing through health insurance.

As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Central government completes its eight years in office, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 30 said that the country was trapped in scams and nepotism before 2014 but it is now achieving new heights. PM Modi's remarks came after he released benefits under the PM CARES for children scheme.

Addressing the occasion, Prime Minister said, "Today, when our government is completing its eight years, the confidence of the country, the confidence of the countrymen in themselves is unprecedented. Corruption, scams worth thousands of crores, nepotism, terrorist organizations spreading across the country, regional discrimination... the country is getting out of the vicious cycle in which it was trapped before 2014."

"The heights that India has achieved in the last eight years, no one could have imagined earlier. Today, India's pride has increased in the world, our India's power has increased in the global forums. And I am glad that youth power is leading this journey of India," he added.

(ANI)