Covid ex gratia sanctioned for 16k: Gujarat govt in SC

Gujarat health minister Rushikesh Patel said that the state was following the Supreme Court orders on how claims for ex gratia have to be dealt with “and for now there is no plan to update the state’s official death figures”.

“What has been declared by the state is the official Covid-19 death figures. There are some who died due to some other diseases and some others who died in private hospitals or at home. There were also some patients who recovered from the hospital but later died at home. That doesn’t mean they died of Covid. The Supreme Court has said that anyone diagnosed with Covid and regardless of where they died, have to be paid compensation… we are doing that,” said Patel adding it would mean cases confirmed after RT-PCR, RAT or HRCT tests.

“For a claimant, they will think it is death due to Covid but it may not be so… For now, there is no plan to update the official figures,” said Patel.

As per the affidavit, subsequent to Supreme Court’s order pertaining to ex gratia payment on December 6, it was submitted that 22,557 applications were received for ex gratia payment as of December 9, of which sanction order was passed for 16,175. Of those claims sanctioned for payment, 14,215 were paid Rs 50,000 through direct benefit transfer (DBT).

It was also submitted that for creating awareness about the relief available to the public, the state government issued a press note on December 3 “containing all relevant information pertaining to the ex gratia compensation scheme” and had also issued communication to the director of All India Radio, Ahmedabad for “transmission of a 60-second radio message” on the compensation scheme, in various radio sectors of the state.

Agarwal was unavailable for comment despite repeated calls and messages.

In an affidavit filed by the Union of India dated November 27, the Gujarat government, while informing the Supreme Court that it had recorded 10,092 deaths as of November 25, added a disclaimer, “This number may change as in 3rd September guideline (by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) definition of death due to COVID is broadened”.

Following MOHFW guidelines and repeated rebukes from the Supreme Court, the Gujarat health department had issued a government resolution dated November 29, demarcating eligibility for the ex gratia payment as well as fixing the responsibility of authorities when it comes to providing documentary proof. Grievance redressal committees, too, were empowered to call for documentary proof from hospital authorities.

Five mandatory conditions have been listed for the kin of a deceased to be eligible for the ex gratia. These include either a positive diagnostic test (RT-PCR/rapid antigen test/any other molecular test) or clinical determination “through investigations in a hospital/in-patient facility by a treating physician while admitted in the hospital/in-patient facility”.

If the death occurred within 30 days from the date of testing or from the date of being clinically determined as Covid, it should be treated as “deaths due to Covid-19”, even if the death took place outside the hospital/in-patient facility. If the death happened beyond 30 days, the patient must have continued as a hospital/in-patient facility admission, to be considered as a Covid death. Death by suicide within 30 days from being diagnosed as Covid positive shall be entitled to avail the ex gratia, for the kin of those deceased Covid patients where Medical Certification of Cause of Death (MCCD) was issued.

In case of grievance with the cause of death specified in the MCCD, family members have to first approach the authority that issued the MCCD for modification and if still aggrieved, then the family members can raise their grievance before the Grievance Redressal Committee constituted at the district and municipal corporation level. If a family member satisfies any of the above five conditions of the eligibility criteria, they shall be entitled to ex gratia “on the production of requisite documents”.

Earlier, the Gujarat government had come under fire from the Supreme Court for constituting Covid-19 Death Ascertaining Committee for scrutinising each claim if indeed it was a death due to Covid-19.