Coronavirus: Chandigarh admn gives ₹50L life cover to frontline health workers

In March, after the Centre announced a ₹50 lakh insurance package for workers at the frontline of the epidemic, the UT administration had taken up the case for its own workers

Health workers involved in handling the Covid-19 crisis in the city have been given a life insurance cover of ₹50 lakh, in case of loss of life due to the infection, the UT administration has announced.

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In March, after the Centre announced a ₹50 lakh insurance package for workers at the frontline of the epidemic, the UT administration had taken up the case for its own workers.

On Wednesday, Chandigarh finance secretary Ajoy Kumar Sinha, in a daily review meeting, chaired by Punjab governor and UT administrator VP Singh Badnore, said requisite arrangements to pay the insurance sum had been put in place. The procedure for claiming the sum has also been established and shared with the health department.

Even private sector healthcare workers in the current crisis have been covered under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY). The UT administration is also working on introducing a similar compensation for personnel of police and sanitation department.

Badnore also expressed his concern over the spurt in coronavirus cases in Dera Bassi.

He advised officers to strictly take measures to prevent its spread in Chandigarh by tracing people who might have come in contact with those patients and quarantining them.

The Mohali deputy commissioner was also advised to remain in touch with his Chandigarh counterpart and start joint containment operations.

UT adviser Manoj Kumar Parida said extra care is being taken to ensure visitors from outside do not spread the infection in Chandigarh.

Pvt schools can announce summer holidays: DEO

District education officer Alka Mehta on Wednesday said city schools can declare the lockdown period as summer vacations.

In a letter written to the secretary of the Independent Schools Association (ISA) on April 6, Mehta said the schedules of summer and winter vacations were finalised by private schools at their own level. Therefore, schools had the liberty of declaring these holidays as summer breaks as per the Right to Education Act, CBSE and MHRD guidelines.

The move comes after the Chandigarh ISA sought directions from the education department on the matter on March 30. The body has 77 schools, with over 50,000 students, as members.

There is no clarity on a similar decision for government schools, said sources.