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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said that no state should deny ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50,000, as recommended by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to the next of kin of persons who died of COVID-19, on sole grounds. The certificate is not mentioned. as the cause of death.
The bench said that the compensation will be given within 30 days from the date of submission of application from the State Disaster Relief Fund and the cause of death is certified as COVID-19.
It also ordered the states and the Center to give wide publicity to the scheme in print media and electronic media.
Approving the NDMA guidelines, a bench of Justices MR Shah and AS Bopanna said it would be open for them to approach the appropriate authority in case of death certificates already issued and any family member being aggrieved.
The top court said that on production of necessary documents like RTPCR test, the concerned authority can make changes in the death certificate.
“No state shall deny the ex-gratia amount on the ground that the cause of death is not mentioned in the death certificate as ‘death due to Covid’,” the bench said.
The top court also ordered that the Grievance Redressal Committee may examine the medical records of the deceased patients and call for compensation within 30 days.
The NDMA had earlier recommended that Rs 50,000 be given to the next of kin of those who died of COVID-19.
It had said that ex-gratia assistance would also be given to the next of kin of those who died of the virus due to involvement in COVID-19 relief operations or preparedness activities to deal with the pandemic.
The government had said that the NDMA had issued guidelines on September 11 in compliance with the apex court’s directions dated June 30 in which it had directed the authority to recommend guidelines for ex-gratia assistance.
In its affidavit filed by the interventionists represented by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal and advocate Sumir Sodhi, seeking ex-gratia assistance to the family members of the COVID-19 victims, the Center had said that the NDMA has already started discussions/consultations on the recommendation. Have given. 15th Finance Commission regarding Insurance Intervention
Read also: NDMA recommends Rs 50,000 ex-gratia to kin of Kovid victims, Modi government informs SC
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