Govt teams sent to 4 states to review Covid ex-gratia claims GOVT TELLS STATES REPORTING COVID SPIKE TO MONITOR, CONTAIN SPREAD

NEW DELHI: The Union government dispatched teams on Friday to four states for a random verification of Covid-19 ex-gratia compensation claim, complying with a Supreme Court order.

The Supreme Court on March 24 ordered that 5% of the total claims filed in these states be scrutinised as a sample verification process in order to ensure there is no fabrication since the applications for the payout received in these regions is far higher than the official toll.

“The central government has rushed central teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh for random scrutiny of 5% claims filed for Covid-19 ex-gratia compensation in these states,” the Union health ministry said in a statement.

In October 2021, the court quantified the compensation at ₹50,000 to be paid from the state disaster response funds to the families of those who died due to Covid-19.

The three-member team to Maharashtra will be led by Dr Sunil Gupta, principal consultant, National Centre for Disease Control; Dr P Ravindran, advisor, health ministry, will lead the team to Kerala, while Dr S Venkatesh, principal advisor, National Centre for Disease Control is heading the Gujarat team. The three-member team to Andhra Pradesh will be headed by Dr SK Singh, director, National Centre for Disease Control.

“There have been complaints of people making false claims to get the ex-gratia amount, which is why the scrutiny. The teams are being sent from the centre to review claims,” said a senior central government official aware of the matter, requesting anonymity.

The deployed teams have been tasked with scrutinising how the ex-gratia claims are being paid as per the directions of the Supreme Court and guidelines issued by National Disaster Management Authority.

The teams will also ascertain the process followed for payment of ex-gratia, examine the details of cases which were approved or rejected, including documentation or verification undertaken for it by the district authorities.

The health ministry said that in the light of the Supreme Court’s March 24 order, making of a false claim and/or submitting a false certificate to avail of the ex-gratia compensation is liable to be punished under Section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.

“As directed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court’s in its Order dated 24th March 2022, the state governments shall assist these teams in carrying out the scrutiny of the claim applications and submit all the necessary particulars of the respective claims that have been attended/processed to the teams, which shall carry out the scrutiny and submit the report to ministry of health & family welfare. The report shall be submitted before the Hon’ble Supreme Court,” said the health ministry statement.

NEW DELHI: The Union government on Friday directed five states — Kerala, Haryana, Maharashtra, Delhi and Mizoram — reporting slight surge of Covid-19 cases to continue to monitor the spread of the infection and accordingly undertake prompt measures.

In a letter, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan pointed to the states’ “higher contribution to lndia’s daily new cases”, and advised them to strictly adhere to the Centre’s five-fold strategy of test, track, treat, vaccination, and adherence to Covid-19 appropriate behaviour.

“Adequate testing as per guidelines and undertake required steps in areas reporting high case positivity; monitoring of lnfluenza-like illness (lLl) and SARI cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection. Genomic sequencing for prescribed samples of international passengers, collection of samples from sentinel sites (identified health facilities), and local clusters of cases . Vaccination of all eligible people..,” the letter said.

“Testing and surveillance still remain important to track the virus, its spread and evolution,” it added.

According to the HT dashboard, in the last 24 hours, India has reported 1,152 Covid-19 cases and 83 fatalities. Of this, Kerala reported 353 infections, Delhi 146, Maharashtra 130, Mizoram 123 and Haryana 67.

PTI In October 2021, the court quantified the compensation at ₹50,000 to be paid from the state disaster response funds to the families of those who died due to Covid-19.