Gujarat Palak Mata-Pita Yojana: Rs 80.81 Crore Given to 21881 Foster Children in 2025-26

The Gujarat government has provided Rs 80.81 crore in financial assistance to 21,881 beneficiaries under its Palak Mata-Pita Yojana, the state’s foster parent scheme, during the financial year 2025-26. The figures, released from Gandhinagar on October 29, 2026, show the scheme continuing to reach thousands of orphaned children who are being brought up by relatives or foster parents rather than in institutions. Under the scheme, implemented by the Social Justice and Empowerment Department, an orphaned child aged up to 18 who is cared for by a relative or foster parent receives Rs 3,000 per month. The money is meant to cover the child’s education, healthcare and other everyday needs, so that a child who has lost parents can grow up in a family environment with steady support for schooling and health. The reach of the scheme is still growing. Between April and September this year, a further 22,224 children received Rs 41.11 crore under the same programme, according to the official figures. Taken together with the full-year figure for 2025-26, the numbers underline how widely the foster-care model is now used across Gujarat as an alternative to institutional care for children without parents. Applications for the scheme can be submitted online through the Social Justice and Empowerment Department’s portal, and the assistance is paid to the foster parent or relative who is actually raising the child. The aim is straightforward: keep the child within a family, keep the child in school, and make sure health and education costs do not become a reason for the family to struggle. The foster parent scheme sits alongside several other Gujarat programmes aimed at children and families, including the Vahli Dikri Yojana, the Mukhyamantri Alpahaar Yojana, the Digital Health Passport, the Namo Saraswati Vigyan Sadhana Yojana and the Namo Lakshmi Yojana. Together they form a wider net of support for children’s health, education and welfare in the state. For families already caring for an orphaned relative, the message from the latest figures is that the scheme is active and funded, with monthly support of Rs 3,000 per child available through the department’s online portal. For families considering taking in an orphaned child, the scheme offers a practical reason to choose family care: the state stands behind that choice with regular, direct financial help.