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The main objectives of the National Children’s Fund (NCF) are :
- To raise funds from individuals, institutions, corporate, and others; and
- to promote and fund the various programmes for children who are affected by natural calamities, disasters, distress, and in difficult circumstances through voluntary agencies and State Governments, in un-served and under-served areas including tribal and remote areas in pursuance of the National Charter for Children, and Children in difficult circumstances including children living in Child Care Institutions (CCIs).
The Fund is reaching out to the designated target population through Grants-in-Aid to voluntary agencies till 2016 and through Scholarships to children living in the CCIs. From 2017 onwards, the NCF has continued only scholarships for children living in the Child Care Institutions.
The fund raised by NCF during the last 3 financial years and current year is as follows-
| Year | Fund Received (in Rs.) |
| 2019-20 | 33,75,600/- |
| 2020-21 | 1,48,25,597/- |
| 2021-22 | 17,91,825/- |
| 2022-23 | 5,03,000/- (as on 31st May 2022) |
The NCF started with seed money of rupees one Lakh from the Government of India on 2nd March 1979. NCF has been raising its Funds out of public donations. The Fund has financed a total of 294 projects to the tune of Rs. 8,01,40,341/- since its inception till 2016-17 and given scholarships amounting to Rs. 85,45,500/- to 972 children living in CCIs since 2016-17.
State/UT wise fund released and utilized by NCF for various scheme:
| Fund released/utilized | ||||
| Year | Scholarship Amount | No. of children benefitted | Details of Grant-in-Aid | |
| Amount | Project Details | |||
| 2019-20 | – | 75 | 2,85,390/- | “Welfare and Development of Disabled Children”
Project Sanctioned for Andhra Pradesh in January 2016 |
| 2020-21 | – | 50 | 1,49,670/- | “Imparting Computer Education to the Rural Students of Kalsi Block of Dehradun District”
Project Sanctioned for Uttarakhand in January 2016 |
| 2021-22 | 35,76,000/- | 400 | – | State-wise detail of students given in table below
|
| 2022-23 | – | 100 | 4,99,500/- | “Redressal Approaches Towards Combating Problems Faced By Girls Child Needing Special Attention at Vulnerable Zones Comprising of Naxalbari and Kharibari, Blocks in the Backward Darjeeling District of West Bengal State”
Project Sanctioned for West Bengal in January 2015 |
| State/UT wise scholarships given to children for the year 2021-22 | |
| State | No. of Children |
| Andaman & Nicobar | 25 |
| Chhattisgarh | 11 |
| Gujarat | 32 |
| Haryana | 26 |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 62 |
| Karnataka | 20 |
| Kerala | 62 |
| Madhya Pradesh | 12 |
| Maharashtra | 8 |
| Meghalaya | 3 |
| Odisha | 8 |
| Tamilnadu | 108 |
| Tripura | 9 |
| West Bengal | 14 |
| Total | 400 |
The number of children who have benefited out of NCF during the above period;
| Sl. No. | Year | Number of Children Benefitted | Amount released
(in Rs.) |
| 1 | 2019-20 | 75 | 2,85,390/- |
| 2 | 2020-21 | 50 | 1,49,670/- |
| 3 | 2021-22 | 400 | 35,76,000/- |
The NCF has provided financial assistance of Rs. 8,01,40,341/- in the nature of one-time grant to 294 Voluntary Agencies/ non-profit Institutions, which were implementing schemes for welfare of children. The Grant in aid Scheme continued till the Financial Year 2016-17.
The scholarship is provided to children staying in Child Care Institutions. The eligibility conditions are as follows:-
- The applicant should have secured minimum 55% marks in the final examination of the previous class and minimum 75% attendance.
- Students pursuing their studies from IX standard onwards are eligible for the scholarship.
- 50% of the total scholarship money will be earmarked for girl students.
Scholarship norm for students of different classes
| Category of Class | Scholarship Amount |
| Class IX & X | Rs. 700/-p.m. per child
(Child will receive Rs.16,800 on completing X class) |
| Class XI & XII | Rs. 800/-p.m. per child
(Child will receive Rs.19,200 on completing XII class) |
This information was given by the Union Minister of Women and Child Development, Smt. Smriti Zubin Irani, in a written reply in Lok Sabha today.
