The Central government has sent three-member teams to Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh for random scrutiny of claims filed for ex gratia due to Covid-19 death. The Union Health Ministry said on Friday that this is in pursuance of a Supreme Court order dated March 24. The three-member team to Maharashtra will be led by Dr. Sunil Gupta, Principal Consultant, National Centre for Disease Control. Dr. P Ravindran, advisor, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Calicut will lead the team to Kerala; while Dr. S Venkatesh, Principal Advisor, NCDC is heading the Gujarat team. The three-member team to Andhra Pradesh will be headed by Dr. S K Singh, Director, NCDC.
The ministry said in a statement that the teams will examine the on-field implementation of the ex gratia being paid as per the directions of the Supreme Court and guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority. They will undertake random scrutiny of five per cent of claims applications filed for payment of ex-gratia assistance, it said. The teams shall also ascertain the process followed for payment of ex-gratia, examine the details of cases that were approved or rejected including documentation/verification undertaken for the same by the district authorities, the ministry said.
The Supreme Court had on March 24 permitted the Centre to conduct an inquiry into fake claims for ex-gratia compensation meant for family members of those who have lost their lives due to Covid saying, "nobody can be permitted to avail the compensation by making a false claim or submitting the false certificate. The government can verify five per cent of claims in four states — Maharashtra, Kerala, Gujarat, and Andhra Pradesh — where the gap between the number of claims and recorded deaths was wide, said a bench of Justices M R Shah and B V Nagarathna.
The Health Ministry said Friday that in light of the Supreme Court order, it is emphasized that making a false claim and/or submitting a false certificate to avail of the ex-gratia compensation is liable to be punished under section 52 of Disaster Management Act, 2005. The ministry said the state governments will assist these teams in carrying out the scrutiny of the claim applications and submit all the necessary particulars of the respective claims that have been attended/processed to the teams, which shall carry out the scrutiny and submit the report to Ministry of Health. The report shall be submitted before the Supreme Court, the ministry said.
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