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China revealed recently that it is relaxing its one-child policy for parents affected by the May 12 earthquake. The Chengdu Population and Family Planning Committee, which overseas the policy in the capital of Sichuan province revealed that the couples whose only child was killed or severely injured, can get a certificate allowing them to have another child.
The announcement applies to Chengdu and neighboring cities of Dujiangyan and Pengzhou, where the quake severely affected the Chinese population. The earthquake has killed more than 65,000 people and over 23,000 people are missing with the toll expected to go higher. Officials have so far not been able to estimate the number of children who are dead or injured owing to the disastrous earthquake.
The earthquake none the less has been the most severe on children only as many schools were destroyed while the children were inside the building, when the earthquake struck. In few minutes almost 7,000 classrooms in a school were destroyed. The quake was painful for many parents as it killed their only child or left him or badly injured or handicapped for the rest of their lives. The government is also struggling to deal with about 5500 children who were orphaned as a result of the earthquake.
