New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday said the Supreme Court has given an opportunity to the government to provide relief to Covid victims by fixing adequate compensation to them. He said doing so would be a step in the right direction. Congress has been demanding compensation to the tune of Rs 10 lakh to each of the victims of coronavirus.
There have been nearly 4 lakh deaths due to Covid so far. "The Supreme Court has given an opportunity to the Modi government to rectify its mistake. The government should at least now provide relief to the victims by fixing the right amount of compensation. This would be an important step in the right direction," Gandhi in a tweet in Hindi.
Earlier in the day, The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Central government to issue guidelines to grant ex-gratia to the families of Covid victims within six weeks and left the amount to be decided by the government. The court observed that under section 12 of the Disaster Management Act, minimum relief needs to be given including ex-gratia. It said the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has failed to do so.
The bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan passed the orders on a petition seeking Rs 4 lakhs as ex gratia amount to the family of Covid victims. The centre had contended before the court that it is spending money on mitigation and preparedness rather than giving out ex gratia and giving money could also affect the financial condition of the government.
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The court in its order today observed that granting of ex gratia will affect the economy and therefore the amount will have to be decided by the government based on its priorities and the funds available. The court earlier asked the government to simplify the insurance policy and provide remedy to the family members of the deceased in case they are not satisfied with the cause of death written on the death certificates.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, came down heavily on the Centre over the rising fuel prices terming it as tax extortion. "Long-inconvenient queues for public transport aren’t just due to Covid restrictions. See the rates of petrol-diesel in your city to find out the real reason," Rahul tweeted, hashtagging 'TaxExtortion'.
Petrol prices were last hiked on June 26, which is the 30th increase in prices since May 4, when state-owned oil firms ended an 18-day hiatus in rate revision they observed during assembly elections in states like West Bengal.
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PTI
