Punjab to give Rs 50 lakh ex-gratia to kin of staff who die in Covid fight

The Punjab government has announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50 lakh to the kin of the deceased Covid-19 victims. The compensation will be provided only to the legal heirs of state employees who lost their lives to the pandemic while performing official duty. It will remain in force from April 1, 2020, to July 31, 2020, subject to review thereafter.

“The ex-gratia shall be admissible only where the employee is involved directly in the state’s fight to control the spread of coronavirus — the employees on duty at Covid hospitals/critical care centres, drivers transporting citizens of the state from other states/COVID patients/suspects etc, ration distribution, curfew/lockdown
implementation,” the official release said.

Divulging details about the ex-gratia compensation, the spokesperson said that the Civil Surgeon of the concerned district, where the employee was on duty, would be the competent authority to certify whether the employee was corona-positive. The Deputy Commissioner of the concerned district would be the competent authority to certify whether
the employee was on duty in the state’s battle against the Covid-19 while the coronavirus has been contracted by such employee.

The ex-gratia claim submitted by the office would be accompanied by both these certificates issued by the concerned Deputy Commissioners and Civil Surgeon only and cannot be delegated to any other official.