Covid protocol violators fined ₹350 crore in Kerala in two years

According to government data, out of this ₹214 crore was realised from people who failed to wear mask or those who casually wore it.

The Kerala government has earned ₹350 crore by penalising people who violated Covid-19 regulations since restrictions were imposed two years ago.

Police were given sweeping powers to book violators and stations were given target. (PTI)

According to government data, out of this ₹214 crore was realised from people who failed to wear mask or those who casually wore it. Police were given sweeping powers to book violators and stations were given target. Many raised rights violations and excesses but the government stood its ground. Fine for mask-violators were later raised to ₹2000.

The first state to report Covid-19 case in the country, a China-returned medical student from Thrissur in Jan 2020, the state later reported second highest cases and fatalities after Maharashtra. Initially it was lauded for its pandemic control measures but later it turned a pandemic hub. As on Wednesday the state reported 67,476 Covid-19 deaths.

Among total fatalities more than 25,000 are backlog cases which were added to the list after the union health ministry tweaked death norms following the intervention of the Supreme Court. Earlier the state government counted only positive cases, not post-Covid complications to ascertain deaths.