Delhi govt receives more than 6,000 applications for Covid ex-gratia
Delhi has so far recorded more than 25,000 deaths due to Covid-19, more than half of which were recorded in the second wave of Covid-19.
Around 4,165 applications for the Rs 50,000 one-time financial assistance for Covid-19 deaths recorded in the city have been received by the Delhi government so far. The Kejriwal-led government has also seen 2,753 applications for Rs 2,500 monthly assistance from families which lost their sole breadwinner to the disease, according to a report in the Hindustan Times.
“The process for disbursing the ex-gratia amount will begin very soon,” as per the media report.
More than 25,000 deaths have been recorded in the national capital due to Covid-19. Of which more than half were recorded in the last and worst wave of the pandemic during April-May.
A separate survey for orphaned children by Covid-19 is also underway. It is conducted by the government and is yet to be summarised.
The financial assistance measures
On June 23, the Social Welfare Department of the Delhi government had notified the ‘Mukhyamantri Covid-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana’. Under this scheme, every family who lost a member to Covid will receive an ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000. The dependents or the orphaned children of the Covid-19 victim will get monthly assistance of Rs 2500.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal while announcing the scheme in May also promised free education and financial support to children who lost one or both their parents to Covid. Such children will receive the financial assistance of Rs 2500 till the age of 25. No income limit has been fixed for applicants under this scheme.
The government formed teams to visit residences of people who died of Covid-19 in July. This was done to assist them with the application process. Senior officials said that this was instrumental in getting a higher number of applications.