The Kozhikode Corporation on Tuesday passed an adjournment motion demanding that the Central government raise compensation for COVID-19 deaths from ₹50,000 to ₹5 lakh and that the compensations be paid from the PM-CARES Fund. Health standing committee chairperson S. Jayasree, who presented the motion, pointed out that ₹50,000 was too low a compensation for a life lost.
However, the motion did not sit well with the Opposition councillors. BJP councillor T. Rineesh demanded that the State should share 50% of the compensation, considering that Kerala had a high number of cases and that the account of COVID-19 deaths remained indeterminate. Congress councillor K.C. Shobhita pointed out that the State had set aside a huge amount for vaccination and had also received a huge amount through the Vaccine Challenge, which could be used to compensate the victims. She pointed out that Kerala had not even given subsidies for vaccination, while many other States had. The motion was passed despite the opposition of the BJP councillors.
Earlier, the Mayor rejected an adjournment motion jointly proposed by Moideen Koya of Indian Union Muslim League and Mr. Rineesh against the government order to deposit the fund of local bodies at treasuries. The Mayor cited that the order had been opposed by all local body heads and the matter was under discussion due to which it need not be discussed further at the council.
Congress councillor S.K. Aboobakker’s submission about the non-functioning fire hydrants on S.M. Street led to chaos in the council as he took too much time for his presentation. The Mayor had to adjourn the council for a few minutes to calm the councillors down and later served a warning to Mr. Aboobakker not to repeat the act.
Corporation Secretary K.U. Bini explained the measures taken by the Corporation after the recent fire on Moideen Palli Road. She said the Corporation had served notices to around 200 shops to remove the obstacles and illegal constructions in buildings within a month. As for the fire hydrants, the Mayor said the brass valves of the hydrants were repeatedly getting stolen and the Fire Department was planning to put the hydrants in a box to avoid that.
Councillor Saritha Parayeri pointed out the need for a martyrs’ memorial in Kozhikode, which the Mayor said would be considered soon.
