Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday announced free education and Rs 2,500 each till the age of 25 for children orphaned due to COVID-19.
"Children whose both parents die either due to COVID-19 or with one parent already dead and the one succumbing to COVID now will be given Rs 2,500 monthly pension till they attain the age of 25 years. They will be provided free education," the CM said while announcing slew of other measures for COVID-19 striken families.
Kejriwal on Tuesday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to every family who has had deaths due to COVID-19.
"Families where the breadwinner died, will be given Rs 2500 monthly pension besides the ex-gratia. If the husband dies, the pension will be given to the wife, if the wife dies it will be given to the husband. If an unmarried person dies, the pension will be given to his/her parents," Arvind Kejriwal said.
The CM also said, "There are 72 lakh ration card holders in Delhi & they're given 5 kg ration by the govt every month. This month, ration will be given free of cost. Besides this, addl 5 kg free ration is being given by the Central Govt. So they're being given 10 kg free ration this month."
"Those who do not have ration card but are poor will also be given ration by Delhi Govt. They need not produce their income certificate, they just need to tell us that they are poor and they want ration," he added.
The national capital reported 4,482 cases, the lowest since April 5, and 265 fatalities on Tuesday while the positivity rate dropped to 6.89 per cent, according to the latest health bulletin released by the city government. This is the second day on the trot that the number of cases has remained below 5,000.
The COVID-19 situation has been improving in Delhi with the number of cases and positivity rate going down steadily over the past few days. Medical experts have attributed the lockdown as the main factor behind the dip amid the second wave of the pandemic.
At 6.89 percent, the positivity rate is the lowest since April 7 when it stood at 6.1 percent. The number of new infections is the lowest since April 5 when 3,548 people were diagnosed with the disease, according to government data.
The health bulletin released on Tuesday said as many as 9,403 people recovered from the infection during the reported 24-hours period. There are 50,863 active cases and 31,197 of them are in home isolation, it said. The number of cumulative cases stands at 14,02,873 and the death toll at 22,111. Over 13.29 lakh people have either recovered, migrated out or have been discharged, according to the health bulletin. Of the 24,305 hospital beds for coronavirus patients in the city, 9,906 are vacant, it said.
(With PTI inputs)
