Uttar Pradesh changes rule for Rs 30 lakh ex gratia to staff who died within 30 days of polls

LUCKNOW: In a major relief to families of government staff who died due to Covid-19 during panchayat election duties, the government will now consider one for the ex gratia payment of Rs 30 lakh if the Covid-related death took place within 30 days from the date of the duty. Those who tested negative but died due to post-Covid complications within the set duration will also be considered for compensation.
The change in rules, cleared by the state Cabinet on Monday, will benefit families of a few hundred employees.
Govt portal for kin of deceased to apply on
As per the earlier rules, under which ex gratia payment would be given only if the employee died either on duty or during travel to and from place of duty, the government had identified just three teachers who would be eligible for the compensation. The teachers’ association had submitted a list of over 1,500 teachers who had succumbed to Covid during election duty. A day after declaring that just three teachers had died due to Covid-19, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed additional chief secretary, panchayaton raj, Manoj Singh and the chief secretary to request the election commission to change its rules to reflect the impact of Covid-19.
The order, issued by Singh, says the rule for determining Covid deaths on duty was based on the recommendation of the Election Commission of India to the state election commission. “This did not factor in the time taken for Covid infection to set in and possible death. The changes in rules have been made after consultation with the ECI and SGPGI,” the order says.
The government will now set up a portal on which the family of the deceased, or the head of the department in which the employee was working, can apply with necessary documents and health reports to prove that the person died of Covid within 30 days of election duty. The government will consider a positive RTPCR or antigen test, blood report or CT scan of chest as proof of Covid infection. The order adds that it will also consider a case where a person tested negative but died due to post-Covid complications within a month of date of duty.
“The district magistrate will verify the information and pass it on to the panchayati raj department. We will forward each such case to the state election commission which will then release the compensation,” said Singh.
A government spokesperson clarified that each family will be given an ex gratia of Rs 30 lakh, as against an earlier high court decision to pay Rs 1 crore. “The government has submitted before the court that the figure of Rs 30 lakh was set on the recommendation of the ECI and is uniformly applicable in all five states where elections were held this year,” he said.