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Can't pay 4 lakh to Covid victims: Government to Supreme Court
Supreme Court
Nearly 4 lakh people died in India; free vaccines to everyone above 18 from today
New Delhi: The Centre has 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. The Centres affidavit came in response to a PIL seeking "minimum standards of relief" and ex-gratia payment to Covid-19 deceased.
The Centre has said that compensation of Rs 4 lakh cannot be paid to victims of Covid-19 as the disaster management law mandating compensation applies only to natural disasters like earthquake, floods etc.
Nearly 4 lakh people have died in India since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the official Covid-19 figures released by the health ministry.
"If ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh is given for every person who loses life due to Covid-19, the entire amount of SDRF may possibly be spent on this item alone, and indeed the total expenditure may go up further," said the Centre.
If the entire SDRF funds get consumed on ex-gratia for Covid-19 victims, the States may not have sufficient funds for organizing Covid-19 response, for provision of various essential medical and other supplies, or to take care of other disasters like cyclones, floods, etc. Hence, the prayer of the petitioner for payment of ex-gratia to all deceased persons due to Covid-19, is beyond the fiscal affordability of the State governments, said the Centre.
The next phase of vaccination drive in which the Central government will provide free vaccines to everyone above the age of 18 years will begin from Monday, marking a significant shift from its earlier 'liberalised and accelerated' vaccination policy.
India recorded less than 60,000 new infections after 81 days taking the total tally of cases to 2,98,81,965, while the active cases further reduced to 7,29,243, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Sunday.
A total of 58,419 fresh infections were reported in a day. The death toll climbed to 3,86,713 with 1,576 fresh fatalities, the lowest in 63 days.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Sunday announced fresh relaxations in 27 districts.
The government, however, continued the extension of Covid lockdown till 6 a.m. on June 28.
