Coronavirus: Govt declares COVID-19 as 'notified disaster', rolls back Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia to families of deceased

The government on Saturday declared the COVID-19 outbreak in the country as a “notified disaster”, a move that would allow the state governments to access the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).

In doing so, there was also an apparent goof-up by the government which initially announced Rs 4 lakh ex-gratia payment to the families of those who died due to COVID-19, only to roll it back within hours.

By declaring COVID-19 as a 'notified disaster', the state government can now meet expenses to set up temporary accommodation, the supply of food, water, and medical care for patients and people in quarantine camps from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).

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A notification by the Home Ministry said SDRF funds will be used to pay for additional testing centres and the cost of protective equipment for police, healthcare and municipal authorities, as well as that of thermal scanners and other necessary equipment for government hospitals.

It made it clear that expenditure on the above-mentioned categories should be from the SDRF only, and not from the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF). The expenses would need the approval of the State Executive Committee to strengthen surveillance and control measures against COVID-19 outbreak.

The total expenditure on equipment should not exceed 10% of the annual allocation of the SDRF.

As per an earlier notification from the Home Ministry, Rs 4 lakh was to be given to families of the deceased person and to those involved in the relief operations in the containment of COVID-19. It asked the state government to fix rates for the cost of hospitalisation of COVID-19 patients.

However, these two points were missing from a revised notification issued hours later.

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The state executive committee will decide the number of quarantine camps, their duration and the number of persons admitted to such camps.

“The period can be extended by the committee beyond the prescribed limit subject to the condition that expenditure on this account should not exceed 25% of SDRF allocation for the year,” the notification said.

It said that medical care may also be provided by the National Health Mission.

Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba reviewed the action taken by various states to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak.

Gauba stressed on strengthening preventive and control measures with an adequate number of isolation wards, need to enhance quarantine facilities and ensure that arrivals from the identified countries are quarantined as per the guidelines.