After the Home Ministry had today announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 4 lakhs to the families of the victims who lose their lives due to the coronavirus, the centre has made an u-turn and decided that no ex-gratia will be paid.
Few hours after the union govt had decided to provide monetary assistance to the deceased and for Covid positive person requiring hospitalisation, it has now decided to do away with the provision. Now, the monetary benefit will now be eligible for measures for quarantine, sample collection and screening, according to a revised notification issued by MHA. Apart from that, procurement of essential equipment for response to Covid 19 will also be covered under SDRF.
Government to provide assistance for quarantine, sample collection and screening of Novel #Coronavirus cases under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).#CoronavirusPandemic #COVID19 pic.twitter.com/1ZFglOa1YX
— PIB India (@PIB_India) March 14, 2020
The govt will pay for temporary accommodation, food, clothing, medical care etc for those people who are affected by the coronavirus and sheltered in quarantine camps, except home quarantine. Apart from then, the cost of sample collection and will also paid and the govt will provide support for checking, screening and contact tracing.
Earlier, the Centre had said that it will treat Covid-19 as a notified disaster to provide assistance under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Home Ministry: Rs 4 lakh will be paid as ex-gratia to the family of the person who will lose their life due to #Coronavirus, including those involved in relief operations or associated in response activities. https://t.co/duQCN1yVP7
— ANI (@ANI) March 14, 2020
The Union Home Ministry had issued a letter to all the chief secretaries of the state, informing them about the decision to treat Covid-19 as notified disaster. “In line with the spread of Covid-19 virus in India and the declaration of Covid-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), the Central Government, by the way of a special one-time dispensation, has decided to treat coronavirus as a notified disaster for the purpose of providing assistance under SDRF,” the letter issued by the Union Home Ministry read.
Along with declaring the novel coronavirus as a notified disaster, the letter by the Union Home Ministry had also declared an ex-gratia payment of Rs four lakh to kins of those who die of coronavirus, which has been now done away with.
“Subject to certification regarding the cause of the death from a relevant authority, an amount of Rs 4 lakh will be granted to the families of the deceased person, including those involved in relief operations or associated in response activities,” the original letter had said.
So far, two deaths from coronavirus have been reported in India while more than 80 people have tested positive for the virus till now. Many states have ordered shut down of educational institutes, swimming pools, malls, movie theatres, gyms and places of large public gatherings as preventive measures to curb the spread of coronavirus.
