KOHIMA, NOVEMBER 29 (MExN): The Nagaland Pradesh Congress Committee (NPCC) today said the ex gratia amount of Rs 50,000 to families affected by the COVID-19 pandemic th rough the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) is insufficient.
In a letter to the Nagaland Chief Minister, the NPCC reminded that on September 11, the Central Government submitted an affidavit in the Supreme Court mentioning that it will pay only Rs 50,000 as ex gratia to the families of those affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Under the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) the compensation amount is shared by the Centre and State in 75%-25% respectively,” the NPCC noted.
“At such difficult times, the meagre amount of Rs. 50,000 as ex gratia compensation is insufficient. The central government has argued that giving 4 lakh as compensation would leave the government with insufficient capital to deal with COVID-19 itself. We cannot understand how, the Central Government continues to collect taxes through rising petrol prices and provide tax relaxation to corporates, but can deny any such relief to the citizens,” it viewed.
Meanwhile, the NPCC reminded the CM that after Covid-19 was notified as a disaster under the NDMA by the Central Government, the State Government put down several norms and restrictions upon the citizens to ensure containment of the spread of the virus. “Lockdown was instilled, people were heavily fined for not wearing masks and for not abiding by the Covid-19 protocols. But the norms of assistance, also mentioned under the norms of NDMA, as ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh compensation have not been met,” it said.
It demanded that the Central Government implement its earlier order notified on March 14, 2020 committing disbursement of ex gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh per deceased. Later the Central Government revised this notification and reduced the ex-gratia payment to Rs. 50,000. “We feel at such times of distress it is imperative that special consideration should be made to fulfill the earlier commitment of 4 lakh by the government,” the NPCC said.
It informed that the SDRF norms require 75% of the Rs 4 lakh, which is 3 lakh to be paid by the Central Government and remaining 25%, which is Rs 1 lakh, to be the share of the State Government. The Congress demanded that the Nagaland CM “commit upholding the State Governments’ share of the Rs 4 lakh ex gratia payment so that it pushes the Central Government to fulfill its commitment to the affected citizens.”
The NPCC also called for revising the Covid-19 death register with immediate effect. “Negligence and inefficiency of the government during the first and second wave of the pandemic has cost several lives lost. In addition to that the government has gone to great lengths to hide the actual death numbers caused due to Covid-19,” it claimed. It therefore demanded that a detailed survey to create an authentic Covid-19 death registry so that all those excluded can rightfully access compensation.
