After an emergency cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that if anybody loses their life while serving any COVID-19 patient, be it sanitation workers, doctors, nurses or any other staff, temporary or permanent, from government or private sector, their next of kin would be given ₹1 crore as a mark of respect for their service.
Also read | Use more masks, India's top science advisory body recommends
Mr. Kejriwal announced the honorary compensation while holding a video conference with Delhi government’s medical staff on COVID-19 duty. He said the scheme, which had been created for the families of soldiers from the national capital who were martyred, had now been extended to include medical staff who were on the front line fighting the virus and putting their lives at risk in order to save others.
“Your contribution is no less than a soldier’s... if any healthcare personnel, including government or private doctor, nurse and sanitation worker, dies while serving coronavirus patients, the government will give ₹1 crore for their families,” he said.
The CM thanked the medical staff on behalf of the people of Delhi and people from across India for the service they were providing in helping to fight the virus. “Doctors, nurses, paramedic staff and cleaning staff, and all those involved in the treatment of COVID-19 patients, I want to thank all of you for serving the people in these times of distress. I do not think a disease, a pandemic of this stature, has ever hit mankind. The most developed nations of the world, like the U.S.A., the U.K., Italy, Spain, and Germany, have been struggling with COVID-19. Despite having the most developed healthcare... these nations are not able to cope up with the pandemic,” Mr. Kejriwal observed.
Also read | WHO warns ‘far from over’ in Asia and Pacific
The CM assured the medical staff that if there was anything they needed to help them do their job better, the government would do its best to provide it. “I want to assure the doctors that the government is with you. We will provide all the required monetary assistance and resources to you. We are also procuring food from the five-star hotels for all the staff, and we have arranged a stay for the doctors in the five-star hotel. I am personally pursuing the supply of sufficient PPE for the doctors. I am in touch with suppliers, manufacturers. I have also requested industrialists to donate PPEs for the doctors, instead of the donation in the CM’s relief fund,” Mr. Kejriwal added.
Watch | What is contact tracing?
