Out of the 1,858 Covid widows surveyed, 552 received their compensation within 30 days of application. (Representational/PTI) Savita Shripati Jamdar, a resident of Maktapur village, in Ahmednagar applied for Covid death ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000 on December 14. Her application is still pending with the state, in violation of the Supreme Court directive that has made it mandatory to disperse the amount within 30 days of application.
“The portal shows— ‘your application is being checked by the concerned district civil surgeon/medical officer of the Municipal Corporation’. We don’t know where and whom to approach to know the reason behind the delay,” said Savita who lost her husband to Covid last May. Her 21-year-old son, Jamar Rahul Shripati, is presently working as a farmer to support the family while pursuing Masters’ in Chemistry.
There are scores of such people across Maharashtra who haven’t received their ex-gratia even after months of application with no reasons explained.
Due to this, they have to travel 20-30 kilometres to reach the office of the District Collector and Civil Surgeons to enquire about their pending application, only to be told to wait some more due to the large number of applications.
Nineteen-year-old Rohan Nagesh Unde from Ahmednagar drove 25 kms on a bike to the Collector’s office last month. The young man lost his father Nagesh Vishwas Unde, a daily wage labourer, to Covid last April. With his mother working as a farmer to support the family, they are in urgent need of money. Nagesh’s death certificate, available with The Indian Express, clearly showed Covid as cause of death.
“We applied in December-end when it showed that the application is under scrutiny. Now, for the last 45 days, the status shows ‘your application is being checked…’. Many who applied after me have got their money,” he said.
The same helplessness is reflected in a survey conducted by Corona Ekal Mahila Punarvasan Samiti (CEMPS)—an NGO working for Covid widows. The survey conducted in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of the state revealed that over one-third of the surveyed widows didn’t know why their applications were still pending.
Out of the 1,858 Covid widows surveyed, 552 received their compensation within 30 days of application. Of the remaining applications, 599 widows such as Savita didn’t have an update about their applications — all made between December last and January this year.
“Most of the widows are illiterate without internet access. The state has failed to sensitise the people, especially in rural Maharashtra, about the procedures and document requirement against the instruction of the apex court last October,” said CEMPS founder Heramb Kulkarni.
Volunteers complained that the state is running the scheme ‘half-heartedly’ without sensitising the public about the procedure and documentation against the instruction of the apex court. “Every day, we get 10-12 calls from people seeking help with their pending application. They don’t even know the helpline numbers to call for assistance. The state needs to hold camps to sensitise us and the population about the procedures,” said Karbhari Eknath Garad, a social worker with CEMPS.
People whose applications have been rejected can approach the district grievance redressal committee for an appeal. But many allege that their applications are being rejected without providing an explanation. “At present, the state is also providing the money to the kin whose deceased patients’ names are synced with ICMR. Other deaths related to Covid aren’t prioritised,” said Karbhari.
A look at the data showed that the state has already recorded over 3,500 extra uncounted deaths over its total tally. The Indian Express reported first that as on February 16, against the state’s official Covid death toll of 1,43,451, the number of approvals exceeded 1,46,869.
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