Govt Declares COVID-19 ‘National Disaster’, Announces Rs 4 lakh Ex-Gratia To Victim’s Family

New Delhi: Declaring COVID-19 a national disaster, the Central government on Saturday announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 4 lakh to the family of victims who have died due to the deadly infection.

In a letter to the State and Union territories, the Ministry of Home Affairs stated, “Keeping in view the spread of COVID-19 virus in India and the declaration of it as pandemic by World Health Organization, the Central government has decided to treat it as a notified disaster and announced to provide assistance under State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).”

It was also mentioned in the letter that the state government can use State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for providing temporary accommodation, food, clothing and medical care to the affected people sheltered in quarantine camps or for cluster containment operations.

The number of quarantine camps, the duration of the camps and the number of persons quarantined in such camps will be decided by the state executive committee.

The notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs stated, “The period can be extended by the committee beyond the prescribed limit subject to condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25 percent of SDRF allocation for the year.”

Funds can be used for setting up additional government testing laboratories, procuring thermal scanners, ventilators and other necessary equipments.

The state government will bear the cost of protective gears used by healthcare, municipal, police and fire authorities.