GOVT’S ‘CARE’ YET TO REACH PRISONERS’ CHILDREN

Ten months after scheme’s launch, guardians struggle to raise eligible wards without access to 2K monthly aid under Anbu Karangal

- RAJALAKSHMI SAMPATH @ Chennai

WHEN a parent is imprisoned, it is their child who may serve the hardest sentence — emotionally, psychologically and financially. Many are forced to leave the security of their homes, raised by ageing grandparents or relatives with little or no income.

Tamil Nadu government's Anbu Karangal scheme, which provides ₹2,000 a month to orphaned children till the age of 18, was meant to ease this strain but 10 months since its launch several eligible children are yet to benefit.

Launched by the Department of Children Welfare and Special Services in September 2025, Anbu Karangal also offers these children support for higher education and skill development. Its goal is to keep children in difficult circumstances within family-based care, in line with the union government’s Mission Vatsalya.

According to officials, 12,395 children were enrolled under the scheme as of June 2026; the list is updated monthly. Yet TNIE found that several children raised by their grandparents after the death of one parent and imprisonment of the other (a category eligible under the scheme), face hurdles in accessing the assistance. While some are yet to receive the monthly aid despite completing the enrolment process, others said the payments stopped once the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into force ahead of the Assembly election.