New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) As many as 30,111 children were orphaned, lost a parent, or abandoned due to COVID-19 or other reasons from April 2020 to June 5, 2021, the government said on Friday.

Responding to a question in the Lok Sabha, Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani said a total of 26,176 children have lost a parent, 3,661 were orphaned and 274 abandoned during the period.

Also Read | JKBOSE Class 12 Jammu Division Result 2021 For Winter Zone Declared At jkbose.nic.in; Here Are Steps To Check The Scores.

Madhya Pradesh had 706 orphaned children, the highest reported among the states, followed by Rajasthan (671), Uttar Pradesh (383), Bihar (308) and Odisha (281), according to data shared by the minister in the House.

Among states that have reported the numbers of children left with just one parent, Maharashtra had 6,865, Uttar Pradesh 2,784, Andhra Pradesh 1,923, Rajasthan 1,801, Bihar 1,326 and Madhya Pradesh 1,311, it stated.

Also Read | West Bengal Municipal Elections 2022: TMC Releases Candidate List for February 27 Polls.

Also, a total of 3,890 children orphaned during the COVID-19 pandemic have been approved as eligible for benefits under the 'PM-CARES for Children' scheme till now, the government said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)