The Centre has withdrawn the decision of providing Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to the families of those who died of coronavirus.
The move came just hours after the Centre had made the announcement on Saturday that it would be providing the monetary assistance ‘per deceased person, including those involved in response activities, subject to certification regarding the cause of death from appropriate authority’.
In a letter issued to the Chief Secretaries of States, the union home ministry stated that the spread of COVID-19 virus would be treated as a ‘notified disaster’.
“The Central government, keeping in view the spread of COVID-19 virus in India and the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic by the World Health Organisation (WHO), by way of a special one-time dispensation, has decided to treat it as a notified disaster for the purpose of providing assistance under SDRF,” the letter said.
“Under the Disaster Management Act, the States/UTs can now draw funds from the State Disaster Response Fund, in addition to the funds from the state government and the NHM,” the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare stated on Saturday
Apart from Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia, the Centre had also earlier announced to provide monetary assistance for the COVID-19 positive person requiring hospitalization.
As per reports, the Centre will no longer bear the cost of hospitalisation for treatment either.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases across India increased to 93 on Sunday.