State govt asks DMs, village pradhans to utilise funds provided for last rites of poor

The state government has directed district magistrates and the newly elected village pradhans to ensure that bodies of people dying of Covid or otherwise are not dumped in rivers or any other water body.

Additional chief secretary, panchayati raj, Manoj Kumar Singh issued a circular to all the DMs in this regard on Friday. He stressed that adequate funds had already been made available to districts and village panchayats to help poor families perform last rites of their family members.

“The GO issued on June 2, 2020, mandates village panchayats to provide Rs 5,000 financial assistance from the funds available to them under the state finance commission to the extremely poor families to perform the last rites of any family member who dies. Another GO issued on April 29, 2021 provides for immediate assistance of Rs 5,000 for the last rites of anyone who dies of Covid with the village panchayat to use that money for the same purpose if family members of dead are not coming forward for his cremation/burial,” Singh said in the letter to DMs.

The urban development department, he said, had also issued similar GOs with regard to cities.

“There is, therefore, no reason why people should dump bodies in rivers and other water bodies,” he added.

The government, through its circular, has asked the newly elected village pradhans to ensure proper utilisation of funds provided to village panchayats for cremation or burial of anyone who died due to Covid or otherwise.

It further said bodies must not be dumped in rivers at any cost and asked pradhans to enlist support of newly elected zila panchayat and kshetra panchayat members as well.

“DMs will be responsible for the implementation of the GOs issued earlier with regard to the financial assistance and regularly monitor the same. They will also ensure that every dead body gets a proper cremation/burial,” Singh said.