New Delhi, 9^th October 2021: The Delhi Department of Women and Child Development (DWCD) in association with The Rani Fund, a Philanthropic Family Trust and PVR Network for Enablement of Social Transformation (NEST), the CSR arm of PVR Cinemas, introduced journey of the ‘Paalan’ and Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), an initiative to provide immediate relief to COVID-19 impacted children. Shri Rajendra Pal Gautam, Minister of Women and Child Development, Government of NCT of Delhi presided over the event as Chief Guest. Among other officials from the Delhi Government who were present at PVR Plaza, Connaught Place, the venue of the event included Dr. Rashmi Singh (IAS), Special Secretary cum Director, DWCD and Dr. Amit Sen, Senior Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Director Children First.

The WCD department in collaboration with various stakeholders such as DCPCR, CWCs, DCPUs, Childline, Anganwadis and Saheli Samanvay Kendra field functionaries have been able to create a database of children who have been rendered orphan or lost either of their parents during Covid pandemic and other children in need of care & protection. As a result, the ‘Paalan’ project was launched by the DWCD in association with the Rani Fund and PVR NEST, as a Dynamic Response Initiative using CSR collaboration to support these children. The project was set up under the mechanism of SPV Project by the State Child Protection Society (SCPS), Department of WCD for providing holistic care and protection of COVID impacted children.

Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) is a mechanism to simplify the process of fund raising, investment and project development. SPV committee meets regularly to do a roll out necessary for the program. The members of the team are constituted from various organizations with the mandate to Funds Resource Mobilization; Project Development: Holistic well-being for children in need; Awareness, communication and visibility strategy.

Shri Rajendra Pal Gautam, Minister of WCD, Govt of NCT of Delhi said, “We would welcome corporates with their CSR funds to join hands with the Delhi Department of Women and Child Development in its efforts to contribute and support the ‘Paalan’ SPV Project”.

‘Paalan’ is based on need assessment and response to the challenges of providing the child customized support which is ‘child-centric’ and not scheme centric. The uniqueness of the program is its instant response which caters to the varying needs of children by providing them immediate financial, socio-economic support. The project operates with valuable contributions from various organizations and corporates under CSR, such as The Rani Fund and PVR NEST which highlights the importance of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) model in today’s time for overall development of the society.

“The loss of a parent or the loss of a livelihood earning parent due to covid has caused a great deal of vulnerability in these children. We are glad that corporates are getting interested to augment the Delhi Child Welfare Fund and motivate other corporates to support the cause”, said Dr. Rashmi Singh (IAS), Special Secretary cum Director, DWCD & Dept of Social Welfare, Govt of NCT of Delhi.

National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) in a recent report to the Supreme Court provides an insight into the profound scale of the tragedy. According to the report 6855 children were orphaned, 274 were found abandoned, and 68,218 lost a parent between April 1, 2020, and July 23, 2021.

Ms. Nayana Bijli, Founding Member of Rani Fund said, “It requires a cohesive and large task force to support the vulnerable children impacted by Covid-19. Rani Fund wants to enter into existing partnerships and support these initiatives that have been there for long and leverage the government mechanism to extend the resources to these children. It will network with likeminded corporates and resourceful NGOs and bring them on board to contribute towards this cause”.

In addition to being vulnerable to child labor and trafficking, COVID orphaned children have a more immediate need: trauma counselling. Having had their lives overturned in a year’s time, children have very limited emotional resources to handle such extreme trauma, and therefore it is a necessity to respond to their mental and emotional needs and wellbeing. 

Ms. Deepa Menon, Founder Head, PVR NEST said, “We are happy to partner the Rani Fund and Delhi Department of Women & Child Development in their noble work to make a difference in the lives of these children. We have in-depth experience in public-private-partnership model for our various projects and in the era of Covid when funds are impacted, a collaborative way is the best way to manage projects of such scale. It is our collective responsibility to help the children manifest their true potential”.