The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) given the growing problem related to children affected by COVID-19 has devised an online tracking portal “Bal Swaraj (COVID-Care link)” for children in need of care and protection. This portal has been created with a purpose for online tracking and digital real-time monitoring mechanism of children who need care and protection. The Commission has extended the use of this portal for tracking children who have lost both their parents or either of the parent during COVID-19 and provided a link under the name of “COVID-Care” for uploading of data of such children by the concerned officer/department on the portal.

The Supreme Court of India has directed all district officers across the States/UTs to fill data on the commission’s portal, related to children who have become orphan, by 29th May 2021 on the Bal Swaraj portal under the COVID-Care link. The Commission has informed about the direction of the Court to all States/UTs through letters to principal secretaries of the department of women and child development/social welfare on 28th May 2021. Also, the letter to chief secretaries has been sent in this regard.

The children who have lost family support or are without any ostensible means of subsistence are children in need of care and protection under Section 2(14) of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 and all procedures given under the Act for such children must be followed to ensure the well-being and best interest of children.

'Bal Swaraj-COVID-Care' portal is aimed at tracking the children affected by COVID-19 right from the production of children before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) to the restoration of the children to their parent/guardian/relative and its subsequent follow-up. The Commission can also identify if the state is needing financial assistance in getting more funds for giving benefit under implemented schemes to the children.