COVID Compensation: Centre Recommends Rs 50,000 To Each Victim’s Family; States To Provide Assistance

New Delhi: The Central government on Wednesday recommended a compensation of Rs 50,000 to be given to families of every COVID-19 victim.

The government submitted an affidavit in which it said cause of death has to be certified as COVID-19 to be eligible for the compensation. It will not just be given on retrospective effect, but to any coronavirus victim in future, reported NDTV.

The Centre further said that the ex-gratia assistance will be provided by states from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).

The apex court had last month given the government a four-week extension for framing ex-gratia compensation for COVID-19 deaths.

On June 30, the Supreme Court had said the government has to pay ex-gratia compensation for COVID deaths because it had been declared as a notified disaster under the 2005 Act.

A petition was filed in May seeking monetary compensation of Rs 4 lakh to families of those who lost their lives on account of COVID-19 pandemic.