Port Blair, Feb. 1: In pursuance of Hon'ble Supreme Court judgment in W.P. (C) No. 539 & 554 of 2021, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Government of India has issued guidelines for Ex-Gratia Assistance to next of kin of the deceased by COVID-19 and recommended an amount of Rs. 50,000/- per deceased person including those involved in relief operations or associated in preparedness activities of COVID-19 subject to cause of death certified as COVID-19 and the said ex-gratia assistance shall be paid from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Accordingly, in compliance with the above guidelines and with the approval of the State Disaster Management Authority, the A & N Administration has ordered that the Deputy Commissioners of South Andaman, North & Middle Andaman and Nicobar District shall act as Disbursement Authority in their respective jurisdiction to disburse the ex-gratia assistance to the next of kin of deceased by COVID-19, in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
All application for ex-gratia will have to be submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of the respective Districts in the prescribed format (published in the leading newspapers and broadcasted in the All-India Radio, Port Blair on October 28, 2021) along with specified documents including death certificate that certifies the cause of death due to COVID-19. All claims must be settled within 30 days of submission of the application and disbursed through Aadhaar linked Direct Benefit Transfer procedure.
The Chief Registrar/Registrar of Birth & Death/ CMO authorised by Chief Registrar, shall issue Official Document relating to COVID death to the family member of the deceased, who died due to COVID-19, strictly in accordance with the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare and Indian Council of Medical Research Guidelines communicated by MoHFW, Gol.
In case of any grievances with regard to certification of death, the applicant may submit representation to the District Grievance Redressal Committee, which is constituted and notified for the 3 Districts.
The District Grievance Redressal Committee shall be responsible to address any grievances with regard to certification of death as prescribed in the MoHFW and ICMR Guidelines and to propose necessary remedial measure, including issuance of amended official document of COVID-19 death after verifying facts in accordance with the guidelines and in the letter and spirit of Hon'ble Supreme Court's Order dated 04/10/2021 in Misc. Application No. 1120/2021 in W.P.(C) No. 539 /2021. (Details of Order and MHA guidelines are published in the leading newspapers on October 28, 2021.