SHAH ALAM: Fifty-five students in Selangor have become orphans after losing their parents or guardians due to Covid-19 from January 2020 to September this year, the Selangor state assembly was told.
State Public Health, Unity, and Women and Family Development Committee chairman, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud said based on statistics from the Selangor State Education Department, a total of 1,648 students in the state lost at least one parent due to the pandemic during the same period.
She said the three districts that recorded the highest number of orphans were Hulu Langat, Klang and Petaling Perdana.
Siti Mariah said this in reply to a question by Lim Yi Wei (PH-Kampung Tunku), who wanted to know the number of orphans in Selangor due to coronavirus from January 2020 to Sept 2021.
Meanwhile, Selangor Standing Committee on non-Islamic Affairs co-chairman V. Ganabatirau said the state government will coordinate the assistance for Kasih Ibu Smart Selangor Ibu Tunggal (KISS-IT) initiative so that many single mothers would benefit from it.
She said the latest data as of October recorded 1,661 individuals receiving the benefits compared to the quota of 5,000 allocated.
“The programme will be upgraded to the Bantuan Kehidupan Sejahtera Selangor (Bingkas) in the State Budget 2022,” she said in reply to a supplementary question by Harumaini Omar (Pejuang-Batang Kali) who wanted to know on why the recipients of the KISS IT initiative for single mothers recorded the lowest compared to the allocated quota. — Bernama
