Mukhyamantri Bal Seva Yojana emerges as a lifeline for vulnerable children in Uttar Pradesh

• Ensure the care and protection of orphaned and vulnerable children.
• Prevent school dropouts due to financial hardship.
• Provide long-term educational support.
• Facilitate rehabilitation and social integration of affected children.
• Enable children to become self-reliant and lead dignified lives.
  
  Salient Features and Benefits

  1. Monthly financial assistance
  COVID category: Children aged 0–18 years who lost one or both parents due to COVID-19 receive Rs 4,000 per month through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT).

  General category: Vulnerable children who lost parents or guardians due to reasons other than COVID-19 receive Rs 2,500 per month.

  2. Free education: Free admission and residential education in Atal Residential Schools and Kasturba Gandhi Residential Schools up to Class XII. Educational continuity support for affected children.

  3. Digital learning support: Students studying in Class IX and above are provided tablets/laptops to support digital education.

  4. Marriage assistance for girls: Eligible girl beneficiaries receive ₹1.01 lakh financial assistance at the time of marriage.

  5. Higher education support

• Students pursuing graduation or diploma courses.
• Successful candidates of competitive examinations such as NEET, JEE, and CLAT.
• Children from especially vulnerable family situations, including children of divorced or abandoned women, children whose parents are in jail, and children rescued from child labour, begging, or exploitation.

  Eligibility

• The scheme covers:
• Children who lost one or both parents due to COVID-19.
• Orphaned children and children without adequate parental support.
• Children living in difficult circumstances identified by the state government.
• Permanent residents of Uttar Pradesh.
  
  Major achievements so far:

  1. Comprehensive social security for COVID-affected children: The scheme became one of the first large-scale state interventions in India for children orphaned during the pandemic, ensuring financial support, education, and rehabilitation under a single framework.

  2. Thousands of beneficiaries covered: Government and media reports indicate that: More than 4,500 children orphaned due to COVID-19 have been covered under the scheme across Uttar Pradesh. In the Prayagraj division alone, 716 COVID-affected children and about 3,000 other vulnerable children were receiving benefits under the scheme in 2024.

  3. Expansion beyond COVID: A major achievement has been the transition from a pandemic-response scheme to a broader child- protection programme through the General category, extending benefits to a much larger group of vulnerable children.

  4. Educational continuity: The provision of dree residential schooling, digital devices, higher education support, has helped ensure that children do not discontinue education due to the loss of parents or economic distress.

• Childcare and upbringing
• School education,
• Digital learning
• Higher education
• Marriage assistance for girls, creating a long-term support framework rather than a one-time relief measure.

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