The number of claims is generally expected to exceed the official toll due to the SC’s guidelines, which are seen as broader and more liberal in their definition – mandating that all deaths, including suicide, be 30 per cent of a person’s test. recorded within days. should be treated as positive covid death, Nevertheless, in some states the gap is extraordinarily high.
According to data from the SC, which is monitoring the implementation of its order to ensure payment of compensation to all affected families, the number of claims received so far in Gujarat is 89,633 against the official toll of 10,094. The state has so far cleared 68,370 claims and disbursed compensation amount to 58,840 families while rejecting 4,234 applications.
In Telangana, against the official figure of 3,993 deaths, around 29,000 claims have been received, of which 15,270 have been approved. For Maharashtra, the claim is up to 2.13 lakh against the official toll of 1.41 lakh.
There are some states where the number of claims applications received by the government is less than the official toll. This difference may be due to ignorance about compensation scheme especially in rural areas. The court had in December directed all states to give wide publicity through print and electronic media, especially in local newspapers, so that people are informed about how and where to apply for ex-gratia amount. Can go Expressing satisfaction over the Gujarat government’s decision to publish advertisements in newspapers, it had directed other states to use a similar format of advertisement.
The SC’s decision expanding the scope of Covid deaths came on a plea filed by social activist Gaurav Bansal for payment of compensation of Rs 50,000 to the families of virus victims. Deaths occurring within 30 days from the date of the test or from the date medically determined a covid-19 case will be considered as deaths due to covid-19 Even if the death occurred outside the hospital/in-patient facility, the court ruled.
It had also said that the family member of a person who has committed suicide within 30 days of being found COVID-19 positive would also be entitled to receive financial assistance/ex-gratia.
The court had also made it clear that it was not concerned about allegations of under-reporting of deaths and that its focus was to ensure that people get relief and governments should work towards that purpose. According to data compiled by the Centre, the number of claim applications is less than the number of officially announced deaths in various other states including Assam, Haryana, Karnataka, Punjab and Rajasthan.
Punjab has received 8,786 claim applications so far, while the official death toll stands at 16,557. In Karnataka, the number of claims received is 27,325 against the death toll of 38,376. In Jammu and Kashmir, the number of deaths recorded is 4,483 while 3,115 applications for compensation have been received.
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