Provide Rs 50 lakh aid to kin of those who died due to COVID during poll duty: Akhilesh Yadav to UP govt

LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday demanded the BJP government to provide Rs 50 lakh financial aid to families of officers and teachers who died due to COVID-19 while performing their duty in the Uttar Pradesh panchayat polls.

He said the Yogi Adityanath dispensation should provide them assistance otherwise government employees and teachers will be forced to boycott the counting duty.

"The government should provide Rs 50 lakh financial assistance to families of officers, teachers and employees who died due to coronavirus while performing their election duty in the panchayat polls," Yadav said in a tweet in Hindi.

Uttar Pradesh is among the 10 worst-hit states in terms of coronavirus deaths and cases.

A record single-day rise of 298 COVID-19 fatalities in the state pushed the death toll to 12,241 on Thursday, while the infection tally mounted to 12,17,955 with 35,156 fresh cases.

The Allahabad High Court had asked the Uttar Pradesh government to conclude the panchayat election process by May 25.

The counting of votes will take place on May 2.