Centre should give its share of Rs 3 lakh ex gratia to kin of people who died due to COVID-19, demands Assam LoP

Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia on Friday wrote a letter to the Central government and demanded to give its share of Rs 3 lakh ex gratia to the families of those who died due to COVID-19, and revise the COVID-19 death register with immediate effect.

Saikia in his letter stated that the Central Government of India submitted a detailed affidavit in Supreme Court mentioning that it will pay only Rs.50,000 as ex gratia to the families of those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic through the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF). Under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) the compensation amount is shared by the Centre and State in 75 percent-25 percent respectively.

Later the Central Government revised this notification and reduced the ex-gratia payment to Rs. 50,000, read the letter.

The SDRF norms require 75 percent of the 4 lakhs, which is 3 lakhs to be paid by the Central Government and the remaining 25 percent, which is 1 lakh by the State Government, as per the letter.

We appreciate that the State Government has given ex-gratia payment of Rs. 2.5 Lakh. But we demand that steps be taken with the Central Government to give the Central share of Rs. 3 Lakhs as ex-gratia to the family of the deceased so that it pushes the Central government to fulfilment of its commitment to the affected citizens, according to the letter.

"The meagre amount of Rs. 50,000 as ex-gratia compensation is insufficient. The central government has argued that giving 4 lakhs as compensation would leave the government with insufficient capital to deal with COVID19 itself," stated the letter.

"We cannot understand how, the Central Government continues to collect taxes through rising petrol prices and provide tax relaxation to corporates, but can deny any such relief to the citizens," further stated the letter.

"As a welfare state, it is our responsibility to look after our citizens during times of need. We demand that the Central Government implements its earlier order notified on date March 14, 2020, (33-4/2020-NDM-1) issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, where the Central Government made a commitment of disbursement of ex gratia payment of Rs. 4 lakhs per deceased," it said.

"We also demand revising the Covid-19 death register with immediate effect. Negligence and inefficiency of the government during the first and second wave of the pandemic has cost several lives lost," it said.

( With inputs from ANI )

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