Kin of 64% Covid victims paid Rs 50K ex gratia in Chandigarh

Naina Mishra

Chandigarh, September 16

The families of nearly 64 per cent of the total Covid victims in the city have been given the ex gratia of Rs 50,000 so far.

The virus has claimed the lives of 1,181 city residents since March 2020 and the kin of 767 of them have been paid the ex gratia, costing the Chandigarh Administration over Rs 3.8 crore.

The UT Administration had received a total of 846 applications for ex gratia from the Covid-19 Death Relief Fund till August this year. Around 75 applicants were rejected by a committee.

All claims are being settled within 30 days of submission of required documents and disbursed through Aadhaar-linked direct benefit transfer (DBT) procedures. The disbursement of fund is being done under the District Disaster Management Authority to the next of kin of those who died due to coronavirus.

The families concerned are required to submit their claims through a form issued by the authority along with the specified documents, including the death certificate that certifies the demise as “death due to Covid-19”.

Deaths due to poisoning, suicide, homicide and accident are not considered as Covid deaths even if coronavirus was the accompanying condition.

As per the guidelines, a death occurring within 30 days from the date of testing or from the date of being clinically determined as a Covid case is treated as “death due to Covid” even if the death takes place outside the hospital/in-patient facility. However, a Covid patient admitted to a hospital/in-patient facility beyond 30 days and dies subsequently is also treated as a Covid death.