BPL Households Of Covid Victims Will Receive An Extra Rs 5k Per Month In Kerala
Update: 2021-10-14 15:45 IST
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The state cabinet resolved on Wednesday to offer Rs 5,000 per month for three years to every such family as part of a special financial support scheme, providing a substantial relief to hundreds of destitute families who had lost their single earning member to Covid. This will be in additional to the Rs 50,000 one-time solatium that the Supreme Court ordered be provided to kin of all Covid victims.
Deaths that occur outside of the state, as well as in foreign nations, will be considered in the scheme that provide financial help to all BPL families who have lost their single earning member. That means that expats from poor households who died as a result of Covid will be covered by the scheme if their relatives dwell in Kerala and are below the poverty line.
For three years, the amount will be paid as a direct money transaction to the first dependant's account.
As per government data, 3,570 Indians have died overseas as a result of Covid, with almost 3,000 of them in Middle Eastern countries. NORKA Roots conducted a follow-up on expatriate deaths and discovered that over 1,000 Keralites had died in foreign countries as a result of Covid up until July, a peak month for fatalities. As of Wednesday, there have been 26,573 Covid deaths documented in the state, with an additional 7,000 deaths likely be added in the coming days.
Families that receive social welfare or welfare fund board pensions are not ineligible for the relief. When confirming the application, village officers must check that the beneficiary household does not include any government employees or income tax payers. Although the government has not yet assessed the ruling, it is expected to have significant budgetary consequences.
Meanwhile, the funds will be distributed from the Chief Minister's Distress Relief Fund until a separate budget allocation is made for the purpose. The decision to grant more relief occurred at a time when there was a call from several sectors for the additional help to be based on the socioeconomic background of families.