Issue fresh norms for providing ex-gratia to kin of Covid-19 victims: SC to NDMA

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority NDMA to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to families of those who lost their lives to Covid19A special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah said the court cannot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help but the government can fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid as exgratia to family members of those who lost their lives due to Covid19 while keeping various aspects in mindThe bench said the government can fix a reasonable amount while keeping in the mind the funds and resources available with the countryAlso Read SC dismisses plea against Delhi HC order rejecting PIL seeking to halt Central Vista workThe top court directed the Centre and the NDMA to issue fresh guidelines within six week for minimum standard of relief to be granted to families of victims of Covid19It also directed the authorities to issue guidelines for simplifying the process of issuing death certificates for Covid19 fatalitiesThe top court asked the Centre to consider formulating an insurance scheme for cremation workers as proposed by the Finance CommissionThe bench also rejected the argument of the Centre for reading ldquoshallrdquo as ldquomayrdquo in section 12 of the Disaster Management Act for grant of exgratia amount to victims of disaster and said that the NDMA has failed to perform its statutory dutiesThe top courts verdict came on two separate pleas filed by lawyers Reepak Kansal and Gaurav Kumar Bansal seeking directions to the Centre and the states to provide Rs 4 lakh compensation to the families of coronavirus victims as provisioned under the ActOn June 21 the top court had reserved its verdict on the batch of pleas which also sought formulation of a uniform policy for issuing of death certificatesThe Centre has told the top court that though there was no issue of fiscal affordability with it but exgratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the families of those who have died of Covid19 cannot be paid keeping in mind the rational judicious and optimum usage of resources of the nationIn its additional affidavit the government has termed Covid19 as once in a lifetime pandemic inflicted on the entire world and said that various steps to strategise the nations response to the pandemic have been taken and not just the funds of National Disaster Response Force NDRF and State Disaster Response Fund SDRF but even the funds of Consolidated Fund of India are being utilised according to advice of expertsAdvocate Sumeer Sodhi appearing for four intervening applicants who had lost their family members to Covid19 had submitted that there cannot be any discrimination in the amounts being paid by different states to family members of those who had succumbed to the deadly infectionSodhi had submitted that some states pay higher sum in compensation and others pay less and this discrimination should not be allowed to remain and the Centre should frame a uniform policy under the Disaster Management ActThe top court had that the Finance Commissions recommendations on dealing with disasters cannot override the statutory schemes on compensation under section 12 of the DMAThe government has said that it has already extended for one more year starting from April 2021 the benefit of the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Insurance Scheme of Rs 50 lakh to about 22 lakh healthcare professionalsIt had said the guidelines meant for 2015 to 2020 recommended expenditure for providing financial relief against 12 specific identified disasters on the national level that is cyclone drought earthquake fire flood tsunami hailstorm landslide avalanche cloudburst pestattack frost and cold wave and the Covid19 was not includedIt is submitted that information has been received from all the States and UTs in this respect However as per information received it is clarified that no StateUT has provided any exgratia to Covid19 victims from SDRF the Centre had saidIt further said that in accordance with the recommendations of 15th Finance Commission and the experts the Centre has devised the strategy to deal with the extremely contagious volatile and ever changing impact of the mutations of the virus Covid19 in the best possible manner utilising all the financial human and infrastructural resources of the nation rationally and judiciouslyThe affidavit has further said that the central government has already declared Covid as a disaster under the Disaster Management ActHowever on the issue of exgratia assistance on account of loss of life the guidelines provide that the norms provided by government of India Ministry of Home Affairs for assistance from SDRF should be the Minimum Standards of Relief it had saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday 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