India News | Odisha Announces Ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 for Each COVID-19 Death

Bhubaneswar, Sept 28 (PTI) The Odisha government Tuesday said as directed by the Supreme Court, it will provide financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to the kin of each of those who died of COVID-19.

Also Read | Punjab: 62-Year-Old Woman Found Dead At Her House In Jalandhar; Probe Launched.

Also Read | Telangana Shocker: Upset by Birth of Twin Daughters, Man Strangulates Wife to Death; Arrested.

This was informed by the chief of the Directorate of Medical Education and Training (DMET) Prof C B K Mohanty here.

The amount will be paid from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), according to norms.

“To implement the order of the Apex Court, the Odisha government will issue a special standard operating procedure (SOP),” Mohanty said.

The coastal state till September 28, 2021, has reported 8,187 COVID-19 deaths besides 53 fatalities in which the coronavirus patients had different comorbidities.

For re-audit of coronavirus-related deaths, a district-level committee will be formed very soon, he said.

Apart from this, the next of kin of any COVID-19 patient, who died by suicide, and those who died in accidents, are also entitled to financial assistance, he said.

Earlier the Centre in an affidavit filed before with the Supreme Court had said the funds will be paid by the state governments, sourced from their respective disaster response funds, and will be channelised through the Disaster Management Authority or the district administrations.

The families concerned will submit their claims through a form issued by the state authorities along with specified documents, including those certifying the cause of death as COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to the Chief Secretary, said: “Rs 50,000 per deceased person, including those involved in relief operations or associated with preparedness activities, subject to the cause of death being certified as COVID-19 as per the guidelines jointly issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MH&FW) and Indian Council of Medical Research on 3rd September 2021 should be paid.”

The expenditure on this item will be incurred from SDRF only, in strict compliance with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) guidelines dated September 11, it said.

“The ex-gratia assistance will be applicable from the date of the first COVID-19 case reported in the country and will continue till de-notification of COVID-19 as a disaster or till further order, whichever is earlier,” the letter said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)