Ex-gratia for Covid victims: 7,973 applications from Pune district

PUNE After the state government launched a website on December 1 for Covid victims seeking ex-gratia payments, as many as 7,973 applications have been submitted from Pune district, till Sunday.

According to district officials, currently the work of processing these applications is underway.

As per public health department records, of the 19,736 Covid deaths that have been registered in Pune district till December 12, kin of victims have been asked to apply online for financial assistance of ₹50,000 per victim.

Of the 7,973 applications from Pune district, 3,915 are from Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and 1,924 are from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), whereas 2,134 are from the rural parts.

“The number of Covid deaths in the urban parts is higher. Currently, these applications are being processed. It is a continuous process. In the coming days the number of applications will increase,” said Vitthal Banote, district disaster management officer.

According to officials, disbursement of the ex-gratia amount hasn’t yet been done in the district. The state government is continuously seeking feedback from district authorities on the functioning of the website. Senior officials from the state relief and rehabilitation department have been conducting meetings with district disaster management authorities to discuss improvements and facilitation of the applications to be processed. As per officials, saved data on the website has to be categorised and verified properly.

“Even after the application gets successfully submitted on the website, some glitches were observed. The work to remove the flaws has been continuously going on. Also, there are some instances that a Covid patient from another district has passed away in Pune district and applications have been filed from both of districts. Proposer scrutiny is also necessary before approving an application,” said a senior official from the district administration, requesting anonymity.

There have been a total of 141,259 deaths due to Covid in the state so far. The most number deaths have been recorded in Pune district at 19,736.

In compliance of the Supreme Court order, the state administration has asked every district administration to constitute a grievance redressal committee (GRC) which can be approached by the next of kin of the deceased Covid patients if any problem is encountered in getting the ex-gratia assistance of ₹50,000.

Covid victims: applications received for ex-gratia

PMC - 3,915

PCMC – 1,924

Rural – 2,134

Total – 7,973