₹50k ex gratia for Covid deaths, declares Centre
NEW DELHI: States will pay an ex gratia amount of ₹50,000 to the families of those whose deaths have been certified as Covid-19 fatalities, the Union government has informed the Supreme Court through an affidavit.
The Centre added that the scheme framed by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) lays down that ex gratia compensation is also applicable to those involved in relief operations or those associated with preparedness activities, and that the states will disburse the money from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). The assistance will be continued for any Covid-19 deaths that may occur in the future, added the affidavit submitted on Wednesday.
The Union government contributes 75% of SDRF allocation for general category states and Union Territories and 90% for special category states and UTS such as the North-east states, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu & Kashmir.
The compensation scheme has been put in place after Supreme Court’s direction on June 30 in a petition filed by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal. Underlining that NDMA “failed to perform its statutory duty” by not envisaging a compensation scheme, the court ordered uniform guidelines on ex gratia payments to the families of those who died of Covid-19.
At the same time, the court had clarified that the amount of ex gratia cannot be fixed by the court, and that the Centre and NDMA should determine the quantum after taking into account their policies and other relief and mitigation measures already put in place.
For the pandemic, NDMA had so far said that there was no scheme for payment of ex gratia for Covid-19 deaths due to absence of such provision under the “minimum standards of relief”.
State governments were also asked by the Centre not to use the disaster relief funds in case they wish to pay compensation to the next of kin of those who died of Covid-19. Some states, such as Bihar, Karnataka and Delhi, have been paying compensation on account of Covid-19 deaths from their chief minister relief funds.
After the Supreme Court sought response on compliance of its June judgment, the Centre filed an affidavit on Wednesday, stating that on September 11, NDMA decided to provide an ex gratia assistance of ₹50,000 per deceased person under Section 12(iii) of the 2005 Act which talks about “minimum standards of relief”.
On the same date, NDMA wrote to all the states and UTS apprising them of the new scheme, the Centre said.
The affidavit, attached with a
NMDA notification, said: “The Authority recommends an amount of ₹50,000 per deceased person including those involved in relief operations or associated in preparedness activities, subject to cause of death being certified as Covid-19.”
The matter is listed for hearing before the Supreme Court on Thursday, when a bench of justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna will examine the government’s compliance.
The ex gratia assistance announced by the Centre has not been limited to the Covid-19 deaths that took place in the first and second waves of the pandemic.