Kejriwal gives Rs 1crore to family of sanitation worker who died on Covid-19 duty
The chief minister said that while money could not bring back a lost life, it could help in supporting the families of such Covid warriors.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday met the family of a 55-year-old sanitation worker of Hindu Rao hospital who had succumbed to Covid-19 earlier this month and offered them financial assistance of Rs 1 crore, the government said in a press statement.
The chief minister said that while money could not bring back a lost life, it could help in supporting the families of such Covid warriors.
“A sanitation worker, Raju, was infected while he was on duty at a hospital and later passed away. I have offered his family financial assistance of Rs 1 crore. We are proud of all these corona-warriors who have sacrificed their lives while protecting the people of Delhi,” Kejriwal told reporters after meeting the sanitation worker’s family in north Delhi’s Old Chandrawal neighbourhood.
The compensation scheme was initially meant for healthcare workers. In April, its ambit was expanded to cover police officials, teachers, firemen, sanitation workers and anyone else engaged in any form of Covid-19 management duty. The scheme was given cabinet approval as a “mark of respect to Covid warriors. So far, more than 20 families have received financial assistance from the Delhi government. They include the families of a doctor, police officials and a civil defence volunteers, who are at the forefront of the fight against Covid-19. Earlier this month, Kejriwal had met a city doctor’s family and handed a cheque of Rs 1 crore.
Raju, only referred to by his first name in government records, was employed with the north Delhi municipal corporation.
Raju’s family said that the compensation amount has come as a relief for them and now they can hope to build their own house with it.
“My father was the only one with a permanent government job. My mother also works as a sanitation worker on contract. During the lockdown I lost my job as a housekeeping staff of a private company. My brother too doesn’t have a job. With this money, we hope to make our own house and pay off the loan that my father had taken for getting my two sisters married,” said Ravi Ghogaliya (35), late Raju’s son.
Raju was suffering from diabetes and hypertension. He succumbed to the virus on June 26. The family had earlier said that even though he was a sanitation worker, he also worked as a ward boy in Covid ward, despite his repeated requests of not being put on duty there because of his co-morbidities.
Sanjay Gehlot, president of the Safai Karamcharis Union said, “It is our responsibility to get one of the family members employed in place of their father as well as that they receive the compensation amount of ₹10 lakh from the corporation.”