Odisha Govt To Form Committee To Issue Documents For COVID-19 Deaths

Bhubaneswar: Acting on the guidelines of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the Odisha government has formed a committee for issuing death documents/certificates to the next of the kin of those who succumbed to COVID-19.

In a letter to all district collectors, Chief District Medical & Public Health Officers (CDM & PHOs) and Municipal Commissioners of Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Sambalpur, Berhampur and Rourkela, additional secretary, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) RK Sharma has said that a committee is to be constituted by the collector at the district level with immediate effect.

The committee would comprise Additional District Magistrate, CDM &PHO, Principal or Head of the Department, Medicine, of a Medical College (If it exists in the district). It will be responsible for issuing official documents for COVID-19 death and will follow the procedure as outlined in the guidelines of the Ministry, the letter said.

The collectors have been asked to send the copy of the order on the formation of the committee to the Health & Family Welfare Department within three days.

Notably, the Supreme Court in its June 30 verdict had asked the Centre to initiate steps to simplify the guidelines for issuance and correction of death certificates/official documents, stating the exact cause of death, that is, ‘Death due to COVID-19’ for enabling dependents to get benefits of welfare schemes.

The verdict of the apex court had come in response to two separate petitions filed by the lawyers Reepak Kansal and Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking directions to the Centre and the states to provide Rs 4 lakh compensation to the families of coronavirus victims as provisioned under the Act.