Orphans in Kerala to get monthly allowance

KOCHI: In a noble initiative to provide financial support to orphans, the state government is launching a new scheme under the Social Welfare Mission. Announcing the details of the programme in Kochi on Monday, Social Welfare Minister M K Muneer said that the orphans in the state will be given a monthly allowance of `525 under the new scheme. However, those with a minimum qualification of class X and above, will be handed an allowance of `1,000.He was speaking after receiving a cheque for `50 lakh, contributed by the Ernakulam district panchayat to the Social Security Mission, at Kakkanad. The Minister announced that the second park under the Social Welfare Department’s Gender Park programme will be set up at the Kakkanad Agathimandiram by next year.The third park will be at Poojappura in Thiruvananthapuram. An amount of `10 crore will be earmarked to construct the parks. It has also been decided to reconstruct all the dilapidated buildings under the department, Muneer said.The minister said that a decision has been taken to include people below the age of 18, who have unknown diseases and are currently not included in any of the social security schemes, in the new social security project.An amount of `6 crore has been earmarked for carrying out cochlear implant surgery on children. Surgeries on 200 children will be carried out out in a year, of which  five will be performed in Kozhikode within one month. The Nirbhaya project, meant for providing shelter to harassed women, will be expanded. Also speed track courts will be set up for handling their issues. The project to distribute a financial aid of `400 under the Aswasa Keralam project has already been launched in Palakkad. An amount of `1.5 crore has been spent under this project in Malappuram. In the next phase, the project will be implemented in Ernakulam, Muneer said.The Minister appreciated the efforts by the district panchayat in contributing `50 lakh to the social security mission.District panchayat president Eldose Kunnappally handed over a cheque for `50 lakh to the Minister. Benny Behnan MLA, Thrikkakkara Municipality chairman P I Mohammadali, District panchayat vice-president Bindu George and finance officer K K Abdul Rasheed also spoke. Social security mission executive director T P Asharff presented the report.