Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said that till date 4,345 children have been provided assistance under the PM CARES for Children scheme. In a written reply in Rajya Sabha today, Ms. Irani said, her Ministry is the nodal Ministry for PM CARES for Children Scheme. <br />''<br />''She said, the scheme ensures comprehensive care and protection of children who have lost both parents or surviving parents or legal guardians or adoptive parents or single adoptive parents due to COVID-19 pandemic. The Minister said, a pro-rata amount has been credited in the post office account of each identified child in such a manner that the corpus for each child becomes 10 lakh rupees at the time of attaining 18 years of age. She said, children below the age of 18 years, who are staying with their relatives, are receiving four thousand rupees per month. <br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Ms. Irani said, children staying in child care institutions are provided boarding and lodging facilities on government cost. She informed that children are entitled to receive a monthly stipend between the age of 18 and 23 years, by investing the corpus of 10 lakh rupees into Monthly Income Scheme of the Post Office and they are entitled to receive the amount of 10 lakh rupees upon attaining the age of 23 years. The Minister said, under the scheme, provision has been made for admission in the nearest Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan or Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya or Private Schools. <br />''<br />''She said, scholarships of 20 thousand rupees are provided to all school going children of classes 1 to 12. Ms. Irani said, children are also assisted in obtaining education loans for Professional courses or Higher Education in India for which interest is borne by PM CARES Fund. She said, all children have been enrolled under Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri – Jan Arogya Yojna with a health insurance cover of five lakh rupees. The coverage of health insurance would be provided till they attain the age of 23 years. The Minister said, children can also avail the benefits of Swanath Scholarship Scheme for Students which is being implemented by All India Council for Technical Education to study further in AICTE approved Institutions and courses.</span><br />