The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the Centre must pay compensation to the family of those who succumbed to Covid-19, but said the amount of compensation will be decided by government. Few days ago, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that Rs 4 lakh compensation cannot be paid to all those who died due to Covid-19 as it would exhaust the disaster relief funds.
Accepting the government’s argument, the Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to create minimum standards for relief so that some amount of compensation can be paid. “The NDMA failed to do its statutory duty to prescribe minimum standards,” the Supreme Court said. The government has also been asked to issue death certificates which specify deaths due to Covid-19. “Insurance policies to also be created for medical treatment of Covid-19,” it said. It may be recalled that during the previous hearing, the Centre had told the apex court that it was not feasible to pay Rs 4 lakh compensation to all those who succumbed to Covid-19 as it would exhaust the disaster relief funds.
