Delhi launches financial assistance scheme for families of COVID-19 victims
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched a scheme and an online portal to provide financial assistance to families who lost their loved ones to COVID-19 and asked officials not to find faults in their claim applications. Under the "Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana," Rs. 50,000 ex gratia will be given to every family that has lost a member to COVID-19.
Being a responsible government, we conceptualized this scheme: Kejriwal
An additional amount of Rs. 2,500 per month will be given if the deceased was the family's sole breadwinner. Addressing a virtual press conference, Kejriwal said the "fourth wave" of COVID-19 in Delhi affected almost every family as many died. "Many children were orphaned, many families lost their sole breadwinner. In such a case, being a responsible government, we conceptualized this scheme," he said.
A portal will be launched to apply for financial assistance
"We are launching a portal through which such people can apply for financial assistance. Our representatives will also visit such families and get applications filled up," Kejriwal said. The Chief Minister said such representatives will not reject claims of families in case any document is missing and will only facilitate the process.
We've to provide assistance as soon as possible: Kejriwal
"I want to tell all such representatives not to conduct scrutiny of applications. If the families lack any document, we will help them obtain it. We have to make sure that we make this happen. Don't find faults with their documents... encourage them," Kejriwal said. "We have to ensure that we provide financial assistance to such families as soon as possible," he added.
Staff to look after dependent children's health, education needs
The Delhi government's Department of Social Welfare had notified the "Mukhyamantri COVID-19 Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana" on June 22. The notification stated, "The government will also consider a single member of the affected family to be enrolled as a civil defense volunteer. Besides, the state affirms to look after the health and education needs of the dependent children as per existing policy."
No income criterion to apply under the scheme
To note, there is no income criterion to apply for financial assistance under the scheme. "The deceased and dependent both should be from Delhi... Death should be certified as COVID-19 death or death within one month of testing COVID-19 positive and verified by the health department as COVID-19 death," the notification stated.
