Kin to get 90 days to claim Covid relief
NEW DELHI: The families of people who died due to Covid-19 prior to March 20 will have 60 days to file for the government’s ₹50,000 compensation and the window will be 90 days for coronavirus deaths that occur after March 20, the Union health ministry said on Monday, citing a Supreme Court order.
The statement addresses uncertainty over whether the national Covid death compensation scheme will continue after the Union government revoked on March 23 a section of the Disaster Management Act (DMA) under which the ex gratia was being given out.
“An outer time limit of sixty days shall be applicable… to file the claims for compensation in case the death occurred due to Covid -19 prior to 20th March 2022. For any future deaths, ninety days’ time shall be provided from the date of death due to Covid-19…” the Union health ministry said, citing a March 24 order by the Supreme Court.
“The earlier order to process the claims and to make the actual payment of compensation within a period of thirty days from the date of receipt of claim shall continue to be enforced,” the statement added.
On March 23, Union home secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to all states and Union territories, stating that no further orders shall be issued by the Centre under the DMA after March 31 for pandemic containment, a decision that effectively meant Covid-19 no longer was a nationwide disaster – a classification that gave the central and state governments added abilities to enforce rules.
There was uncertainty on whether the compensation scheme will remain valid since it was framed under Section 12 of the Act for minimum standards of relief during the disaster.
The health ministry added on Monday that in cases of “extreme hardship where any claimant could not make an application within the time prescribed”, the grievance redressal committee can be approached and it will take a decision on a case-by-case basis.
The March 24 order also appeared to expand a sample verification of 5% to all states, the statement suggested, in a move meant to check fake claims. “A fake claim will be considered under Section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and liable to be punished accordingly,” the statement added.
Till now, the 5% verification rule applied to Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, states where the number of claims far exceeded the officially recorded deaths.