States Can’t Afford To Pay 4 Lakh Compensation To COVID Victims: Centre Tells Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Central government told the Supreme Court that COVID victims’ families cannot be paid Rs 4 lakh compensation as it applies to natural disasters only. The Centre said that states can’t afford to pay every victim.

The Centre, in a 183-page affidavit, also added that denying compensation for diseases other than Covid would be “unfair”.

According to the Centre, the deadly virus has claimed more than 3.85 lakh lives and states are already reeling under a severe financial strain, reported NDTV.

The government while explaining that the Disaster Management Law stated that compensation applies only to natural disasters like earthquake or floods.

“Utilisation of scarce resources for giving ex-gratia, may have unfortunate consequences of affecting the pandemic response and health expenditure in other aspects and hence cause more damage than good,” the centre said in its affidavit to the apex court.

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