TRIPURA: In accordance with the relief packages announced earlier by Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, the state government has announced a Covid relief fund of Rupees 3.84 crores to be disbursed to the families of those who lost someone to the corona pandemic. The relief was announced as part of a state scheme that will be implemented with effect until December 31st. Applications are now being submitted by the people and the disbursal will start once the filing process is over.
The government has entrusted the eight District Magistrates with the handing over of compensations to the families. According to the government guidelines, relevant documents have to be submitted at the District Magistrates' office by the next-of-kin, showing evidences and cause of death before claiming compensation. The proposed sum to be given to the families of deceased and those dying as frontline Covid workers is a total of Rupees 10 lakhs. While the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) will release 4 lakhs in each case, the remaining 6 lakhs will come from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund, Deb said. The disbursal will also occur in three installments: Rs 3 lakh each in the first two and Rs 4 lakh in the final one.
Although there has been some confusion regarding the SDRF funds, Deb's government has assured that they will rightly live up to the promises made. Referring to this, Law Minister Ratan Lal Nath said, "We have been informed by central authorities that there is no guideline to pay Rs 4 lakh as compensation from SDRF funds. We have taken up the issue with them and the CM has written to them as well. If they still come back with a negative response, we will allocate the promised amount from the state budget."
Reportedly, a total of 375 people lost their lives due to Covid in the peak stages of Tripura. However latest reports reveal that the number of Covid beds in the hospitals has gone significantly low from 2812 to 457, and the recovery rate of 97.84 percent is also higher than the national average of 95.11 percent.
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