The need for expanding Covid-19 compensation

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India has lost over 3 lakh lives to Covid-19. While state governments have announced relief for families of the victims, compensation is subject to the death certificate attributing death to Covid. The assistance is not for families where death occurs due to complications following Covid infection.

A pertinent question that arises is, how will the families of those dying due to Covid-induced complications after recovering from the virus, get relief?

Also, a public interest litigation has been filed in the Supreme Court alleging that death certificates of Covid-19 victims do not mention the cause of death, making it difficult for families to get compensation. On this, the top court issued a notice to the Centre and asked if there is a uniform policy to issue Covid-19 death certificate. The apex court also directed the union government to handover guidelines on issuing these certificates to the ICMR. The centre has been given 10 days to respond to the top court’s notice.

In the view of pandemic, insurance companies have also simplified the claim process and reduced paper work. To facilitate speedy settlement of death claims, LIC – the country’s largest insurance company, has allowed alternate proofs of death, in lieu of death certificates. Earlier death certificates were mandatory for claim settlement process.

The government should ensure that if a patient succumbs to complications after Covid-19 within a period, those families should be compensated too. The situation calls for practices that ease the pain and does not make families run from pillar to post for compensation.