Supreme Court said it will deliver its order next month.New Delhi: No other country managed to do what India did in terms of its response to the coronavirus pandemic, the Supreme Court said, in rich praise for the government, as it reserved the order on a case involving the Rs 50,000 compensation proposed for COVID-19 deaths.The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has recommended that Rs 50,000 be given to the family of those who died of COVID-19, the centre had informed the Supreme Court on Wednesday.It said that compensation will also be given to the family of those who died of the virus due to involvement in COVID-19 relief operations or activities associated with the preparedness for dealing with the pandemic.The government said that NDMA has issued the guidelines on September 11 in compliance with the directions of the top court given on June 30 wherein it had directed the authority to recommend guidelines for the financial assistance.”The authority recommends an amount of Rs 50,000 per deceased person including those involved in relief operations or associated in preparedness activities, subject to cause of death being certified as COVID-19,” as per the NDMA guidelines.The assistance will not be limited to families affected by COVID-19 deaths in first and second wave of pandemic but will continue in future phases of the pandemic as well, the authority said.”The ex-gratia assistance to families affected by COVID-19 deaths will continue to be provided for deaths that may occur in the future phases of the COVID-19 pandemic as well or until further notification,” it said.In its affidavit filed on a batch of pleas by advocate Gaurav Kumar Bansal and intervenors represented by advocate Sumeer Sodhi seeking ex-gratia assistance to family members of COVID-19 victims, the Centre said the NDMA has already started discussions/consultations on the recommendation of the 15th Finance Commission regarding insurance intervention.”Further studies are to be undertaken for laying groundwork for these suggested insurance interventions. It is important that these insurance mechanisms are thoroughly studies, analysed and introduced with due diligence in partnership with insurance companies and hence it is a time taking process,” the Centre said.The family will get ex-gratia assistance subject to cause of death of their kin being certified as COVID-19 as per the guidelines issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), it said.The compensation will be provided by states from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and all claims will be settled within 30 days of submission of required documents, and disbursed through Aadhaar linked Direct Benefit Transfer procedures, it added.Detailing the methodology, the guidelines have stated that the District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA)/district administration would disburse the ex-gratia assistance to the next of kin of the deceased persons.”The concerned families will submit their claims through a form issued by State Authority along with specified documents including the death certificate that certifies the cause of death to be COVID-19″, it said.
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