NEW DELHI: Only 500 families of doctors who succumbed to COVID-19 during the first and second waves have been compensated by the government so far, latest RTI data has revealed.
Though the union government has always maintained that they don’t have data on the total number of doctors who died during the pandemic, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has put the number at nearly 1,600.
According to the RTI, the government has paid compensation to 500 families of doctors so far. The latest figure of families of doctors who have been compensated so far comes in the backdrop of the Supreme Court’s order of October 28, which observed that “Society will not forgive us if we don’t take care of our doctors and don’t stand for them.”
The apex court was considering a plea that raised the issue of the eligibility of private doctors under the government’s insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP), announced on March 30, 2020. The SC, which heard the matter after nearly two years, underlined the need to support doctors who put themselves on the line during the COVID-19 pandemic, even if they were working in private hospitals, and lost their lives during the pandemic.
According to Dr KV Babu, who has been pursuing the issue since 2022, although the government does not have data on the number of doctors who are beneficiaries of the insurance scheme, a rough estimate indicates only 500 doctors’ families have received compensation so far.
As per the scheme, insurance coverage of `50 lakh would be provided to healthcare providers, including community and private health workers, who succumbed to COVID-19.
In his RTI, filed on September 22, Dr Babu had asked for the total number of beneficiaries under the scheme who died of COVID-19 and the amount disbursed to them from March 30, 2020, to date; the total number of doctors who are the beneficiaries and the amount disbursed to them till now and state-wise data from Delhi and Kerala.
To the RTI queries from the Kannur-based ophthalmologist, The New India Assurance Company Ltd., which is disbursing the compensation, stated that the total number of claims settled by them for all health workers under the scheme is 2,294.
“Total amount disbursed is `1147 crores up to 11 June 2024. We were directed by the Ministry to hand over all the pending original PMGKP claim documents to the concerned department of the Ministry.”
“Accordingly, we have handed all original files to them on 12th June 2024. They will handle all the pending as well as future claims. Hence, data is not available as on date,” said the insurance company.
