MCG fixes fee of ₹5,500 per cremation, including Covid-19 deaths

Amid complaints of overcharging, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) fixed a rate of ₹5,500 for cremating bodies, including that of Covid-19 patients, according to a release issued by the civic body on Monday

Amid complaints of overcharging, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) fixed a rate of ₹5,500 for cremating bodies, including that of Covid-19 patients, according to a release issued by the civic body on Monday.

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The amount includes the expenses of wood, fees for the priest and a cleaning fee. MCG commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh drafted an order in this regard on April 29, a copy of which is with HT, before he was diagnosed with Covid-19.

Singh’s order was circulated by the MCG internally on Monday and subsequently, made public.

He stated in the order that the civic body had been receiving complaints from the public that caretakers of the cremation grounds in MCG limits are overcharging different amounts for cremation within MCG limits. “Therefore, to bring uniformity in the fee/charges for cremation of a human corpse at different cremation grounds..... I do hereby prohibit the charging of a fee beyond a sum of ₹5,500 per cremation, including the charges for wood, the fee of a priest, and sanitation charges,” the order stated.

Singh further directed the in-charges of cremation grounds to submit a daily report to the MCG office about information, including the amount charged for each cremation.

The order was issued under the Haryana Municipal Corporation Act, 1994, and further stated that any person found violating these orders will be prosecuted under the relevant provisions of the act.

“At certain places, we received complaints that the in-charges were asking over ₹15,000-20,000 for doing one cremation. Hence, a standard fee has been introduced and the rates will be displayed across all the four major crematoriums as well,” said a senior MCG official privy to the matter.

The four major crematoriums falling under the MCG area at Madanpuri, near Pataudi Chowk, Atul Kataria Chowk, Sector 32 near Medanta Hospital, and at Carterpuri.