<p>As many as 78 claims for compensation made by families of health workers who succumbed due to Covid are pending with the Centre. But 60 claims have been approved by the Government of India, according to data of the state health department.</p>.<p>The Centre has so far received 138 claims under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for Rs 50 lakh compensation each from families of health workers in Karnataka who died of Covid.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru-based family of 65-year-old Dr Jyotiprakash Bhattacharjee, an ENT surgeon, who succumbed to Covid on July 23 last year marked his first death anniversary on Friday. But they haven't received any money or even acknowledgement of their claim.</p>.<p>Jyotiprakash was a cancer survivor and yet saw ILI (influenza-like illness) patients during the pandemic last year out of a sense of duty to his ENT speciality. His son Shubhankar Bhattacharjee, 26, told DH that despite being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and vertebra cancer, his father was not one to sit at home in the middle of the pandemic.</p>.<p>However, Gousia Begum, wife of 67-year-old Ballari psychiatrist Dr Mohammed Khaja Khutbuddin, was lucky to get the compensation. He passed away on July 31 last year due to Covid and was diagnosed eight days before his death. "We got the compensation as a result of my family's efforts. I was in no position to pursue and run around for it as I was dealing with the grief of losing my husband. This compensation will help in my son's engineering studies," she said.</p>.<p>Sixty-eight-year-old Dr Shivanand Murgude, from Belagavi district's Sankeshwar town, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, helped women safely deliver their babies during the pandemic. He died of Covid on July 31 last year just six days after being diagnosed.</p>.<p>His son, Dr Sachin Murgude, who is an ophthalmologist, told DH, "Till July 23 last year when he got infected, he saw outpatients and did surgeries too. But no compensation has been provided since his practice was private. When private doctors tended to Covid patients just like government doctors, why this discrimination?"</p>
<p>As many as 78 claims for compensation made by families of health workers who succumbed due to Covid are pending with the Centre. But 60 claims have been approved by the Government of India, according to data of the state health department.</p>.<p>The Centre has so far received 138 claims under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) for Rs 50 lakh compensation each from families of health workers in Karnataka who died of Covid.</p>.<p>The Bengaluru-based family of 65-year-old Dr Jyotiprakash Bhattacharjee, an ENT surgeon, who succumbed to Covid on July 23 last year marked his first death anniversary on Friday. But they haven't received any money or even acknowledgement of their claim.</p>.<p>Jyotiprakash was a cancer survivor and yet saw ILI (influenza-like illness) patients during the pandemic last year out of a sense of duty to his ENT speciality. His son Shubhankar Bhattacharjee, 26, told DH that despite being diagnosed with thyroid cancer and vertebra cancer, his father was not one to sit at home in the middle of the pandemic.</p>.<p>However, Gousia Begum, wife of 67-year-old Ballari psychiatrist Dr Mohammed Khaja Khutbuddin, was lucky to get the compensation. He passed away on July 31 last year due to Covid and was diagnosed eight days before his death. "We got the compensation as a result of my family's efforts. I was in no position to pursue and run around for it as I was dealing with the grief of losing my husband. This compensation will help in my son's engineering studies," she said.</p>.<p>Sixty-eight-year-old Dr Shivanand Murgude, from Belagavi district's Sankeshwar town, a gynaecologist and obstetrician, helped women safely deliver their babies during the pandemic. He died of Covid on July 31 last year just six days after being diagnosed.</p>.<p>His son, Dr Sachin Murgude, who is an ophthalmologist, told DH, "Till July 23 last year when he got infected, he saw outpatients and did surgeries too. But no compensation has been provided since his practice was private. When private doctors tended to Covid patients just like government doctors, why this discrimination?"</p>
