E-Paper
Covid-19: Kin of 10 Maharashtra cops will not get Rs 50 lakh compensation as they didn’t contract virus on duty
In all, 247 police personnel died due to Covid-19 in Maharashtra, including 84 in Mumbai Police alone
Maharashtra Police authorities have identified at least 10 policemen , who have died of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) but are not eligible for the Rs 50-lakh compensation from the state government.
It has been found that these 10 police personnel did not contract the virus while they were on duty.
As a result, the state government has not considered them as Corona Warriors.
Also read: India’s Covid-19 tally surges past 6.39 million, death toll nears 100,000
Initially, when the viral outbreak was first detected many police personnel, who was pressed into Covid-19 duty, had contracted the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes the viral disease.
Panic had spread among the Maharashtra Police personnel after many took ill due to the contagion.
The state government had announced the Rs 50-lakh compensation in a bid to boost the morale of the police personnel. The government had also promised a job to the next of kin, if a police man died of Covid-19.
Mumbai Police authorities had announced an additional Rs 10 lakh from its welfare fund over and above the state government’s compensation package.
Requests to sanction the compensation package started pouring in thick and fast amid the spread of the contagion and deaths of police personnel due to Covid-19.
The case fatality rate (CFR) among Mumbai Police was high during the early days of the detection of the viral outbreak.
However, Naval Bajaj, former joint commissioner of police (JCP) (administration), who was also designated as the nodal officer for Covid-19 management for Mumbai Police, introduced a slew of effective measures to contain the viral outbreak among the personnel.
Soon, more Covid-19 cases were reported among Maharashtra Police personnel posted in Thane, Pune, Navi Mumbai and rural parts of the state.
While processing the case files of deceased policemen for the compensation package, Maharashtra Police officials observed that there are a few, who have died since the viral outbreak was first reported but had never performed any Covid-19-related duty.
An Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, who is posted at Maharashtra Police’s headquarters, said out of the total 247 deaths among the police personnel due to Covid-19, including 84 in Mumbai Police alone, 10 families of the deceased were not eligible to get the state government’s compensation.
These deceased policemen belonged to various district police units across Maharashtra and none was from Mumbai Police.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI), Vilas Genu Kachare, who belonged to Sangli district and was posted at Sanjay Nagar police station, is among the 10 deceased policemen, whose family members have been denied the state government’s compensation package.
He was absent from duty since last October and was an alcoholic. He had died after suffering a fall in the washroom. He had tested Covid-19 positive after his death.
Kachare is survived by his wife and a son.
The state government’s order clearly stated that those police personnel would be eligible for the Rs 50-lakh compensation, who had performed Covid-19 related work at least 14 days before getting admitted to hospital or 14 days prior to their death.
“The 10 policemen are from various districts of the state. Preliminary information suggested that they were on long leave due to various personal reasons when they had tested Covid-19 positive. Some policemen were absent for months. However, their families staked claim for the Rs 50-lakh compensation after they had died of the contagion,” said another police officer.
