Ex-gratia for kin of COVID victims

The Supreme Court's directive to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to frame guidelines for paying ex-gratia assistance to the next of kin of those who succumbed to COVID-19 infection will provide succour to many families. The apex court's judgment has also settled the legal question of families of COVID victims are entitled to get relief including ex- gratia. The SC has not pronounced the amount of ex-gratia to be paid and left it to the wisdom of the NDMA to decide. The court pronounced the judgment on a petition seeking directions to the Central and the state governments for payment of ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh to families of those who succumbed to COVID and post-Covid complications. The Central government had opposed payment of ex-gratia to families of COVID victims at the rate of Rs 4 lakh to each family on the ground that it "may consume" the entire amount of the State Disaster Relief Fund and leave the state with insufficient funds for pandemic response. The death toll due to COVID-19 infection in the country is almost touching the 4-lakh mark which is bound to add to financial worries of the Central and the state governments to meet the expenditures on account of payment of the compensation to kin of victims of the virus infection. The Central government argued for a broader approach involving health interventions, social protection, and economic recovery for the affected communities as "a prudent, responsible and sustainable approach" but ensuring that each needy family of COVID victims gets required support under such a broad approach will be a huge challenge. The argument advanced in support of the petition was that Section 12 of the Disaster Management (DM) Act, 2005 provides for ex-gratia monetary compensation for the families of those who have lost their lives during a notified disaster. The Central government declared COVID-19 as a notified disaster under the DM Act on March 14, 2020, and all state governments notifications on various protocols related to COVID-19 have also been issued under this act after the central notification. The SC judgment also brought to light that while the mandate under Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act requires laying down guidelines for minimum standards of relief including payment of ex-gratia assistance in respect of a notified disaster, the NDMA as the national authority is yet to frame the guidelines. A number of fatalities is likely to go up as the active caseload of the country still over 5.37 lakh while a third wave is looming large. The NDMA will have to calibrate the ex-gratia amount carefully keeping in mind the possibilities of the rise in fatalities and apprehension of the states of SDRF amount getting exhausted in payment of such reliefs. It is reassuring to know that even before NDMA comes up with the guidelines for payment of relief to COVID victims, the Assam government has announced one-time relief for all widows belonging to low-income households whose husbands have died with a COVID-positive status. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma's announcement that Rs 2.5 lakh will be provided to such widows belonging to a family with annual income up to Rs 5 lakh under the 'Chief Minister's COVID-19 Widow Support Scheme' can also guide the NDMA to fix multiple amounts of ex-gratia depending on income and distress levels of beneficiaries. The State government has also launched a welfare scheme for children orphaned due to COVID under the monthly financial assistance of Rs 3,500 will be provided to them till they are 24 years old. The Assam government has aptly described the rationale for a relief measure for distressed families of COVID victims by stating that "Losing loved one to COVID-19 is hard. A little support at this time goes a long way." The SC judgment implies that the centre as well as the state governments will have to bring more clarity on the death certificate of COVID-19 victims. The judgment will require the Central government to issue simple guidelines for the issuance of certificates of death due to COVID-19 and for making corrections in the certificates already issued. The Central government is its affidavit had stated that all deaths after a diagnosis of COVID-19 infection, irrespective of comorbidities, are to be classified as "deaths due to COVID-19."An actual number of eligible beneficiaries would be known only after a simplified guideline on COVID-19 death certificates is issued by the Central government and necessary corrections are made by the states in the certificates already issued. Ascertaining the actual death count of COVID-19 is equally important for the scientific community to advance research on the virus and the efficacy of response mechanisms. Many families are grappling with uncertainties of life following the death of lone bread earners due to Covid-19 infection. Payment of ex-gratia will help them find the strength to make a new beginning.