Congress demands Rs 4 lakh compensation to families of Covid victims

Ahead of the winter session of Parliament, the Congress on Wednesday raised the issue of Covid victims and demanded that the government should pay Rs 4 lakh compensation to the family of the deceased.

The party released a video in which Rahul Gandhi raised the issue and demanded, "The government should tell the real figure of the Covid victims and give compensation of 4 lakh to the families of those whose members died due to Covid."

The government should end the sufferings of the people and give compensation to them, he added.

The matter of compensation in Covid death cases was heard in the Supreme Court on Monday where the apex court slammed the Gujarat government for deviating from its approved process and instead constituting a scrutiny committee for the disbursal of ex-gratia compensation to families of those who succumbed to Covid-19.

The top court also asked the Centre to bring on record data from various state governments in connection with ex-gratia distribution for Covid deaths and also provide information on setting up of grievance redressal committees.

The Supreme Court in its October 4 judgment, had approved Rs 50,000 ex-gratia for the kin of Covid victims, which was recommended by the National Disaster Management Authority.

The bench said: "No state shall deny the ex-gratia assistance of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of the deceased solely on the ground that in the death certificate issued by the appropriate authority, the cause of death is not mentioned as died due to Covid-19."

The bench said the ex-gratia will be over and above the compensation/amount to be paid by the Centre/states/Union Territories to be declared/provided under different benevolent schemes.