Bhubaneswar, Oct 23 (PTI) The government will provide an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh to the family members of the polling official and security personnel engaged in Odisha by- election if they die of COVID-19, an official release said.

The Election Commission has made this announcement, the release issued by the state government said. The same amount of ex-gratia will also be provided to the family of the staffers and jawans if they die due to violence or explosion during the by-polls, it said.

Also Read | Bengaluru Rains: Flood-Like Situation in Parts of City, Videos Show Waterlogging in Several Areas.

Apart from polling officials and central forces, the engineers of Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL) and Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) assisting the by-polls will also get coverage under the same scheme.

The by-elections to the Balasore Sadar and Tirtol Assembly constituencies will be held on November 3. The by- election was necessitated following the demise of sitting BJP MLA Madan Mohan Dutta (Balasore) and BJD legislator Bishnu Das (Tirtol).

Also Read | Delhi Man Held For Sale of Child Sexual Abuse Videos Through Mobile App, CBI Registers POCSO Case.

(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)