With the deadline set by the Supreme Court for the submission of ex-gratia claims by the kin of COVID-19 victims who died before March 20 set to expire soon, the administration has issued a second appeal to eligible beneficiaries to send in their submissions.
The Supreme Court had, in an order issued in March, set a time limit for the process of receiving claims relating to COVID-19 death ex-gratia to prevent the procedure from dragging on indefinitely and to avoid false submissions.
The 60-day time limit set by the apex court, starting from March 24 and pertaining to COVID-19 deaths prior to March 20, is due to expire on May 22.
As of May 2, the administration has issued orders enabling 2,189 eligible persons to get an ex-gratia of ₹50,000 each from the State Disaster Response Fund.
District Collector E. Vallavan has appealed to eligible persons who have not applied to do so within the stipulated time limit. To file a claim for ex-gratia for future deaths, a 90-day time limit has been provided, starting from the date of death. In extraordinary cases where a claimant was not able to make an application within the prescribed time frame, the claimant may approach the Grievance Redressal Committee. The Committee shall consider such claims on a case-by-case basis.
The Collector also warned against making a false claim and fraudulently obtaining any relief on that basis, which is a punishable offence under Section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005.
