1.7k govt staff died of Covid, kin to get Rs 30 lakh

BENGALURU: At least 1,700 State government employees succumbed to Covid-19 since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Of these, 1,100 employees died during the second wave of the pandemic since April 2021. According to Karnataka State Government Employees’ Association president CS Shadakshari, employees belonging to the education, health and police departments were the worst-hit by Covid-19. Close to 60 per cent of the employees have been given at least one dose of vaccine.

The state has 72 departments and the government employs 5.3 lakh people, while the sanctioned permanent posts are 7.7 lakh. There are also 1.5 lakh contract employees, Shadakshari told TNIE. According to N Manjunatha Prasad, Principal Secretary, revenue department, the government has offered Rs 30 lakh ex-gratia to the kin of government employees who died due to Covid-19, and jobs to dependents.

However, B Guruswamy, president of the Karnataka Secretariat Employees’ Association, said Rs 30 lakh was a meagre amount, and demanded Rs 1 crore as compensation. He said employees working in Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha and MS Building died due to Covid-19 in the past few months. Sources in the CMO said the government was struggling to manage finances as it was not getting enough money through taxes. “Though we are managing to pay compensation, there are delays which will soon be rectified,” said an official.