Centre plans expert care for children at govt. institutions

New Delhi, May 11 (IANS): The Ministry of Women and Child Development is engaging with the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) with a view to provide expert care to children staying at the government Child Care Institutions (CCI) across the country.

Thousands of children across more than 2,000 CCIs are expected to benefit through this service.

Caretakers or child protection officers even from the remotest corners of the country will be able to avail this telemedicine service by expert pediatricians every afternoon, six days a week.

“This will be in addition to the medical care provided to the children under the scheme for Child Protection Services,” Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Irani, said in a series of tweets.

Currently, teams of experts from a strong network of 30,000 IAP members are being constituted at the central, zonal, state and city levels to offer services to vulnerable children, Irani said.

“Every government-run or aided CCI will have an expert assigned by the IAP,” she said.

Thanking the IAP and its members for offering their services, the minister tweeted, “Their commitment and government of India’s resolute efforts will make expert medical consultation just a phone call away for children living in government Child Care Institutions.”