HC asks Maha govt to decide offline pleas for Covid relief

The Bombay high court on Monday passed an interim order in which it directed the Maharashtra government to not keep pending the applications made for ex-gratia claims by relatives of those who died due to Covid, merely because those applications were submitted physically instead of online.

The division bench of Chief Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice M.S. Karnik passed this order while hearing a PIL filed by Prameya Welfare Foundation seeking a payout for all eligible applicants even if the claims were filed physically either by post or in person.

When the court asked government pleader Poornima Kantharia if the state government was willing to make a statement that it will not reject an application merely because someone had applied physically. Advocate Kantharia said that the online portal had been formulated by the Maharashtra government in accordance with an order of the SC. She also told the court that the state government was willing to provide all necessary assistance to those who were not comfortable with the online system of applications.

According to her, the state had received a total of 114 applications for ex-gratia payments physically or by post in Mumbai suburban and city areas, and 54 of these applicants had been contacted by officials for assistance with the online procedure. Their applications were now pending with the BMC, she said. However, she also said that the government could not trace the whereabouts of 14 of the applicants and, hence, was unable to assist them with the online applications. Ms Kantharia had also contended that the petitioners must not insist on physical applications being accepted, as the online procedure was much easier and streamlined.

Petitioner's lawyer Sumedha Rao had pointed out to the court that the Apex Court has also said that ex-gratia must be paid within 30 days of one applying for the same. She further said that almost 50 people applied for the same physically between October and November last year from across Maharashtra even before the formation of the portal and they are waiting for the payment.

— RAJESH JADHAV Students belonging to various student organisations protest against state education minister Varshatai Gaikwad in Dharavi, Mumbai, on Monday. Lakhs of Students gathered and blocked the road connecting Dharavi and Sion Station. They were protesting against plan to organise offline mode of HSC, SSC exams.