States to provide Rs 50,000 compensation to families of those who died due to Covid-19

New Delhi, Sep 22: The family members of people who died due to Covid-19 and those who passed away during the Covid-19 operations will get Rs 50,000 ex gratia from the state governments, the centre informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The ex gratia assistance will be given to the families of the past and future victims' families. The respective state government will pay the compensation amount from its Disaster Response Funds, the centre stated in an affidavit filed before the apex court today.

The cause of death needs to be certified as COVID-19 in accordance with Health Ministry guidelines.

The families should submit the certificate of the cause of death and also fill up relevant forms with specified documents. The district disaster management authorities will help the people in processing the applications, the centre said.

"All claims must be settled within 30 days of submission of the required documents, and disbursed through the Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer procedures," NDTV quotes Centre as informing the court in the affidavit.

However, in case of rejecting an application, the clear reason should be stated, the affidavit said, adding that Additional District Collector, Chief Medical Officer of Health (CMOH), Additional CMOH or the Principal or Head of Department of Medicine at a Medical College (if one existing the district), and a subject expert will handle the grievances at the district level.

In the last 21 months, India has reported over 4.45 lakh deaths due to Covid-19. Many states have already given ex gratia to kin of those who died of Covid-19. While Bihar has paid Rs 4 lakh for the family, Madhya Pradesh has paid Rs 1 lakh.

In June, the Supreme Court gave six weeks time to the NDMA to frame guidelines and the compensation amount the families should receive in the Covid-19 related deaths.