Employees State Insurance Corporation relief for families of Covid victims in Odisha
BHUBANESWAR: With the devastating Covid-19 pandemic affecting lakhs of ESI beneficiaries in the State, the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) has urged the kin of Covid victims to take the advantage of relief schemes announced by the Centre. Along with the relaxation of Atal Beemit Vyakti Kalyan Yojana (ABVKY), the corporation has launched Covid-19 Relief Scheme to provide financial assistance and succour to the families of insured persons, who died of the disease.
Under the scheme, 90 per cent (pc) of the average wage of the deceased employee will be paid on monthly basis to dependants. If death occurs within 30 days of recovery from Covid and discharges from hospital, those cases are also eligible under the relief scheme. If an insured person was earning Rs 20,000 per month and his daughters are married and sons are above 25 years age, his spouse will get Rs 18,000 per month till death or remarriage. The scheme will remain active till March 23, 2022. The ABVKY launched in 2018 has been relaxed and extended up to 2022.
The insured persons entitled for 25 pc of their monthly wage for a period up to three months, will now get 50 pc of their basic wages as financial compensation for three months. Regional Director of ESIC (Odisha region) Parthasarathy Panda said the payment will be credited directly to bank accounts of the dependants, who will have to submit their claim in the prescribed format enclosing the Covid report and death certificate at the nearest ESIC branch office.
“The spouse of the deceased employee is also eligible for ESI medical care on payment of Rs120 per year. The dependants of beneficiaries should come forward and take the benefits of the special schemes. All claims will be settled within 15 days of receipt of the complete application,” he said. So far, the regional office has received 108 claims and dependants of 71 of them have been provided pension. The remaining 37 applications are under process. Similarly, Rs 34.48 lakh compensation was provided under ABVKY to 313 beneficiaries who became unemployed during the pandemic.