INDIA TO PAY $674 COMPENSATION FOR EVERY COVID-19 DEATH

Wed 06 October 2021:

According to the BBC, the Indian government has promised to pay $674 in compensation for each death caused by the COVID-19 virus.

Following a plea by lawyers seeking compensation under the country’s disaster management laws, India’s supreme court has approved the government’s decision.

COVID-19 has claimed the lives of at than 447,000 individuals in South Asia so far, however researchers estimate that ten times as many people may have died.

On Monday Justice MR Shah said the “next of kith and kin of the deceased person” will be paid the compensation. The court added that it should be paid within 30 days of a family submitting an application.

In June, petitioners sought legal help to pay compensation to COVID-19 victims’ families, invoking India’s National Disaster Management Act of 2005.

The law states that compensation of $5,367 (400,000INR) should go to families of people who died in disasters.

“We know the government has spent a lot of money in managing the pandemic. But we still think the government should have paid 400,000 rupees compensation to every affected family according to the law.

“Or they could have given a higher amount to the poor families and less to the well-to do. They could have bettered it,” Gaurav Kumar Bansal, one of the petitioners, told the BBC.

According to the federal government, the cash for the compensation will come from the states.

At least two states, Kerala and Rajasthan, have expressed concern that the compensation will put a strain on their budgets, claiming that the monies should come from the central government.

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