Family of first Maharashtra teacher to die of Covid gets Rs 50 lakh

MUMBAI: The family of the first teacher in the state to die of Covid-19 while performing duties received Rs 50 lakh compensation from the state government.
Taufiq Attar, an assistant teacher at Islampur high school in Walwa town of Sangli district, died on October 19, 2020. Attar, who had joined the school in June 2019, was assigned duty at Kanegaon checkpost. Two weeks prior to his death, he developed symptoms of the virus and was admitted to hospital.
The state government on June 21 issued a notification on compensation to Attar’s wife Minaz. The compensation cames as the central government last week ruled out grant of ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh for persons who died of Covid-19 in the country.
The affidavit was in response to two PILs listed before Supreme Court. The PILs by lawyers Gaurav Bansal and Reepak Kansal referred to two central government notifications. The March 14, 2020, notification declared Covid-19 as a notified disaster under National Disaster Management Act. The April 8, 2015 notification quantified ex-gratia compensation of Rs 4 lakh to victims killed in a notified disaster.
Though teachers have not been given status of frontline workers, they were included in the state government compensation scheme. Over 300 teachers in the state, including 15 in Mumbai, have lost their lives to Covid-19.