CUTTACK: The Orissa High Court has ruled that the widow of a pharmacist on duty at a drug distribution centre in a government hospital who died due to Covid-19 infection is entitled to financial assistance.
The division bench of Chief Justice Harish Tandon and Justice BP Routray quashed a single judge’s order rejecting her petition to declare her husband as Covid warrior.
Initially, E Meerabai Patro had applied for financial assistance mandated for Covid warrior after her husband Ashok Kumar Patro while serving as a pharmacist in the district headquarter hospital, Rayagada, died on September 11, 2020, due to Covid-19 infection. He was diagnosed with the virus and hospitalised on September 3, 2020.
But the state authorities rejected it on the ground that the deceased was drafted for routine duty at the drug distribution centre. The widow challenged the rejection order in the high court in the same year.
On February 8, 2024, a single judge held that since the deceased was not drafted for Covid management duties, he doesn’t come under the purview of the guidelines. Hence, his case cannot be declared as Covid warrior. The widow had then filed an appeal against the single judge’s order.
While disposing of the appeal recently, the division bench of Chief Justice Tandon said: “The Single Judge has failed to appreciate the duty discharged and assigned to the deceased before his infection and death, and the impugned judgment is set aside accordingly.”
The bench said, “Even if the contention of the state authorities is accepted to the effect that the deceased was deployed for duty at drug distribution centre then also his exposure to contact with Covid-19 infected patients cannot be ruled out in course of discharging his duties as he had to distribute the drugs/medicines to different persons either at the centre or by going to different places of the hospital including the patients’ wards.”
The bench also took note of the fact that the CDMO Raygada had certified that the deceased was drafted for Covid-19 work, and directed the state authorities to extend the benefits in favour of the widow providing financial assistance to her as per Government of Odisha Finance Department Resolution dated August 4, 2020.