Centre releases SDRF share for ex-gratia to Covid-19 victims' kin

In a bid to ensure payment of ex-gratia to kin of Covid-19 victims, the government on Friday approved release of the second instalment of its share of the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) amounting to Rs 7,274.40 crore, in advance, to 23 states.

The move came after a nudge by the Supreme Court on petition seeking ex-gratia payments for Covid-19 victims.

Last month, the Centre had told the apex Court that it would pay Rs 50,000 as ex-gratia to the next of kin of Covid-19 victims.

The central government had issued an order on September 25, revising the items and norms of assistance under the SDRF, making therein a provision for grant of ex-gratia payment to the next of kin of the deceased due to Covid-19.

This enabling provision in the SDRF norms has been made to implement the guidelines issued by the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on September 11 in compliance with the order passed by the Supreme Court on June 30.

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The decision was taken by Union Home Minister Amit Shah as part of the Modi government's initiative to facilitate state governments to have enough funds in their SDRF to deal with any emergency arising out of any disaster, an official statement said.

It said five states have already been released in advance the second instalment amounting to Rs 1,599.20 crore.

Shah has approved release of the second instalment of the central share of the SDRF amounting to Rs 7,274.40 crore, in advance, to 23 states, the statement said.

The state governments will now have an amount of Rs 23,186.40 crore in their SDRF, including state's share, during the financial year 2021-22, in addition to the amount of opening balance available in their SDRF, to meet the expenses for granting ex-gratia to the next of kin of the deceased due to Covid and for providing relief on other notified calamities, it said.

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