Centre can’t say it has no role in ex-gratia disbursal to Covid-19 victims: Kerala CM

The CM’s remarks came after the Centre, earlier in the day, told the Supreme Court that an ex-gratia of ₹50,000, from the state disaster response fund, would be provided to the families of those who lost their lives to the pandemic.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday said that the payment of ex-gratia to the kin of those who lost their lives to Covid-19 could not be left entirely to states. Further, Vijayan also said that the Centre cannot say that it has no role in awarding the compensation to the victims of Covid-19.

While the states can not entirely distance themselves from the providing the assistance, a major share of it should also come from the Centre, Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. (ANI)

Vijayan’s remarks came after the Centre, earlier in the day, told the Supreme Court that an ex-gratia of ₹50,000, from the state disaster response fund, would be provided to the families of those who lost their lives to the pandemic. The ex-gratia would also be given to the families of victims who were involved in relief operations or activities associated with the preparedness for dealing with the pandemic, the Centre told the top court.

Meanwhile, responding to a query regarding this submission by the Centre, Vijayan said that while the states cannot entirely distance themselves from providing the assistance, a major share of it should also come from the Centre, news agency PTI reported. He further said that the Centre has said it has no role in providing the assistance but it should be ready to provide the necessary help in providing the ex-gratia to Covid-19 victims.

Earlier, the Centre said that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended that a sum of ₹50,000 be given to the kin of Covid victims. It also said that NDMA issued the guidelines previously on September 11 following the directions of the Supreme Court, which on June 30 had directed the authority to recommend guidelines for providing ex-gratia assistance.

The assistance would be provided to not only the families of victims who have lost their lives so far but also in the future, the Centre said. It also said that the claims regarding Covid-related deaths should be settled within 30 days of submitting all required documents and the amount would be disbursed through Aadhar-linked direct benefit transfer procedures.

India has so far reported 445,768 deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic and according to Kerala government’s latest data, the state has reported 24,039 fatalities as of Wednesday.

(With inputs from PTI)