BHUBANESWAR: Initiating the process of extending financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to the kin of those who died of coronavirus, the State government on Monday directed the district administrations to receive claims through the prescribed form both online and offline.
This instruction was issued to district collectors, chief district medical officers, tehsildars and other officials concerned during a high-level preparatory meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Suresh Mohapatra here. The families of those who succumbed to Covid-19 will have to submit their claims through a form issued by the State government along with specified medical documents as proof including those certifying the cause of death and bank account details to the district Collectors. The claimants will be issued a receipt upon receipt of applications.
Online applications can be submitted through common service centres and they will be verified through a system developed by the Odisha Computer Application Centre (OCAC), said IT Secretary Manoj Mishra. The financial assistance will be available to those Covid patients who died within 30 days of being inflicted by the disease.
Applications will reviewed by a district level committees. The State government has empowered the chairman of district level disaster committee to identify genuine claimants. The compensation amount will be paid from State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). Earlier the Centre in an affidavit filed before with the Supreme Court had said the funds will be paid by the state governments, sourced from their respective disaster response funds, and channelised through the Disaster Management Authority or the district administrations.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs in a letter to the Chief Secretary has said that `50,000 per deceased person, including those involved in relief operations or associated with preparedness activities, subject to the cause of death being certified as Covid-19 as per the guidelines jointly issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Indian Council of Medical Research on September 3, 2021, should be paid. The compensation will be paid to the kin of all the deceased irrespective of their economic status.