- Upon relentless prodding from the Supreme Court over the last few months, the Union Government has submitted to award an ex-gratia amount of Rs. 50,000 as compensation to the kin of Covid victims. The announcement was made recently by the National Disaster Management Authority where the amount will be disbursed from the State Disaster Response Fund. After the announcement, the state apparatus will be gearing up to face an administrative challenge to tackle the challenges arising out of disbursing the amount from meager resources. For the record, India’s official Covid death toll is slowly inching towards 4.5 lakh signifying a payout of nearly Rs. 2,250 crores from the state kitty.
PC: Ved Vyas Tripathi
- It is worthwhile to know that the Government of India contributes 75% to each state’s SDRF except for hill states and north-eastern states, where its share is 90%. Even though an announcement to the effect is made, certain questions are requiring earnest debate and understanding how the announcement will pan out eventually. Whether the ex-gratia order considers largely patchy certification of Covid deaths, especially as witnessed during the virulent second wave? Resounding no would be the answer. As widely reported, many of the marginalized and poorer citizens were at the receiving end of the pandemic’s rampaging surge. Understandably, many deaths would have passed away without getting certified as Covid deaths.
- In that event, ex-gratia payments will most likely elude them which would otherwise go a long way in mitigating the tremendous stress suffered by the victim’s families. Of course, Rs. 50,000 payout is not substantial but would be welcomed by poorer citizens just like several welfare benefits available to them. Conversely, the amount would not make much of a difference to well-off families unlike poorer strata of the society. Mind you, the Rs. 29,983 crore corpus addition to SDRF this fiscal seems adequate for ex-gratia payments, it needs to be kept in mind that expenses related to recurring notified disasters such as droughts and floods will also have to be met. Thus, a potential outcome is that perverse incentives can creep in leading to further undercounting of Covid deaths.
PC: LEGACY ADMINISTRATION
- Would this not set a precedent for demanding similar ex-gratia for all widespread disease-related deaths? It is worthwhile to also examine why other disease-related deaths should not attract ex-gratia payment where the public health is in such a poor state and extremely unequal access to quality private healthcare. What would be the plan of action if a massive outbreak of another disease happens in the coming days? How will the central and state governments fund such compensation when there are so many other calls on the public purse? It boils down to the imperativeness of completely overhauling the public health system for the better. Sadly, the Covid has laid bare how inadequate our healthcare infrastructure is while handling a huge influx of patients seeking relief. There is no other way but to spruce up public healthcare on priority.
