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THE CENTRAL GOVERNMNT MUST INCREASE EX-GRATIA TO COVID VICTIMS

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 9/24/2021 3:05:11 PM

T K NANDANAN It is very sad to learn that the Centre has been following an antipeople policy in the case of disbursing ex-gratia to Covid victims. It is equally sad to learn that the Centre dilly-dallied on the order of the Justice Ashok Bhushan-headed bench to implementthe mandated ex-gratia of Rs. 4 lakhs to the Covid victims, and it later cancelled when the Covid started spreading. It may be recalled that before the first lockdown, as per the National Disaster Management Authority guidelines, Rs 4lakhs was granted as ex-gratia when a calamity was declared as a national disaster. But after declaring the lockdown, an order was issued to cancel the exgratia provision. Subsequently, the Prime Minister-chaired NDMA received flak from the Supreme Court for it. Now the Centre on Wednesday informed the Supreme Court that an amount of Rs.50,000 would be given by the states as ex-gratia to the kin of all those who died of Covid-19. However, ambiguity prevails over the disbursement of the ex-gratia by the state governments. Further, the ex-gratia assistance will be given subjected to the cause of death being certified as Covid-19 as per the guidelines issued by ministry of health and family welfare and ICMR. Obviously, the Centre is taking the people for a ride in the disbursement of ex-gratia. Even the Rs.50,000 is not sufficient for the family in which the breadwinner died due to Covid-19 pandemic. Just think about the huge medical expenses incurred for a family to treat a Covid patient who at last succumbed to it. Moreover, people have been going through great financial difficulties these days due to the pandemic-induced lockdown. People’s family budgets are gone topsy-turvy due to the fact that either people were put on lay off or underpayment let alone the cases of the families in which Covid claimed lives. So, the solatium of Rs. 4 lakhs ordered by the Supreme Court earlier would be a comforting amount though not the right amount. If the Central government still finds it an exorbitant amount, it can explain its financial difficulties and appeal to the public to accept for a lower amount of Rs. 3 or 2 lakhs. This way the government can win the trust of people who sometimes will not accept it considering the precarious financial condition of the government. But the way in which the Central government dealing with the most deserving and compassionate cases is to be frowned upon. As the court observed, the Covid-19 pandemic is an unprecedented pandemic being occurred in a century and it is the government, which must be held responsible for the death of its citizens due to the pandemic.