₹1 lakh for K’taka families that lost earning member to virus

Bengaluru In a bid to help poor families who have lost an earning member due to Covid-19, chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday announced that the government has decided to provide ₹1 lakh compensation, one person per family

Bengaluru In a bid to help poor families who have lost an earning member due to Covid-19, chief minister BS Yediyurappa on Monday announced that the government has decided to provide ₹1 lakh compensation, one person per family.

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“Several working people have died due to Covid-19 that has caused distress to several families. Several such families have come to the streets. Keeping this in mind, we have taken a decision to give ₹1 lakh to those BPL (below poverty line) families if anyone has died due to Covid-19, one per family,” Yediyurappa said in Bengaluru on Monday.

The decision to provide compensation comes over a year since the pandemic wreaked havoc in the southern state and other parts of the country, claiming thousands of lives and many more livelihoods.

Yediyurappa said that the financial relief would cost the government around ₹250-300 crore and the number of possible beneficiaries would range between 25,000-30,000.

The Congress, however, urged the government to consider deaths due to Covid as a natural disaster and announce a compensation of ₹5 lakh one person per family

“@CMofKarnataka has announced ₹1,00,000 compensation to all those BPL families where at least one member has succumbed to #Covid19.I urge @CMofKarnataka to consider this as a national disaster and announce compensation of ₹5,00,000 as per disaster relief norms,” Siddaramaiah, former chief minister and leader of the opposition said in a post on Twitter on Monday.

According to official government data, there have been 32,913 deaths due to Covid-19 in Karnataka since March last year. There are at least 21 more dead that the government lists in its daily bulletin as deaths due to non-Covid reasons.

The state government has ordered for a death audit of Covid-19 but there has been little progress on the same so far, people aware of the developments said.

The announcement made on Monday comes at a time when Yediyurappa is trying to salvage the Covid-19 health crisis, which he is accused of having sidestepped to prioritize politics.

Yediyurappa said that this move to compensate poor families is likely to be the first such attempt anywhere in the country.

The 78-year-old has been at the receiving end of sharp criticism from all quarters, including members from his own government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who have accused the chief minister of mishandling the health crisis in the southern state.

Yediyurappa has so far announced ₹2,100 crore financial package during the first wave and around ₹1,750 crore in two parts during the second wave.

The chief minister also held a meeting to check the state’s finances on Monday.

Yediyurappa said that despite the hardships in funds, the state has announced compensation which he said meant that among the others, Karnataka’s financial situation is in much better shape.

However, the financial assistance announced by Yediyurappa has come under criticism as activists, trade union, unorganised workers and opposition parties have called it “inadequate” which was unlikely to provide any relief.

Though Yediyurappa has seen rising demands for his removal from within his own partymen, the chief minister is fortifying his chair ahead of the BJP’s general secretary’s visit, scheduled on Wednesday.

Arun Singh, Rajya Sabha member and BJP’s national general secretary incharge of Karnataka, had earlier dismissed speculation when he said that Yediyurappa will continue as the chief minister, which had bolstered the 78-year-old.

Legislators within the BJP have now formed sides for and against Yediyurappa, widening the growing differences within the saffron outfit and denting its chances of consolidating its powers ahead of the 2023 assembly elections in Karnataka.

Arvind Bellad, a two-time BJP legislator has been camping in Delhi for the past three days and met senior leaders of the party in the nation’s capital ahead of Singh’s visit.

Singh is expected to meet all legislators who have raised grievances against the chief minister.