Ahmedabad: The Congress in Gujarat said it will take out a march across the state on Monday to demand Rs four lakh compensation from the government for the family members of each of those who have died due to COVID-19 in the state.
The 'Nyay Padyatra' (march for justice) will be taken out across eight metros and 33 district headquarters, the party said in a statement issued on Sunday.
Through this exercise, the opposition party aims to highlight the difficulties faced by the affected families in getting their applications cleared for the ex-gratia compensation of Rs 50,000, it said.
The party said it will also demand special compensation for the families of coronavirus warriors, who lost their lives due to the infection. These demands will be mentioned in the memorandums that the party will submit to district collectors at the end of the Nyay Padyatra, it said. Congress claimed more than three lakh people have lost their lives in the state due to the "criminal negligence" and "clumsy administration" of the BJP government during the COVID-19 pandemic. It said it will expose the ruling BJP's lies by filling more than 45,000 forms for compensation.
Chief spokesperson of Gujarat Congress, Manish Doshi, said people have to run from pillar to post to get their applications approved for compensation, which is "totally unreasonable and unjust and cannot be tolerated." The number of applications submitted by the next of kin of the deceased for Rs 50,000 ex-gratia is way more than the state government's official COVID-19 death figure of 10,648, which has "exposed the BJP's real face, as it has been trying to hide the true death toll", he said.
While hearing a plea seeking ex-gratia assistance to family members of COVID-19 victims, the Supreme Court had on Friday last week reiterated that applications seeking compensation should not be rejected on technical grounds. The SC had in its earlier orders directed the state governments to pay an ex gratia of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of deceased due to COVID-19.
In one of its orders in the case, the apex court had said that no state shall deny ex-gratia solely on the ground that the death certificate does not mention the virus as the cause of death.
Doshi said, "The government should answer why it had to reject more than 15,000 applications, and why it has not publicised the issue of compensation in such a way that the poor and common man get information."
"The BJP government has been presenting only a rosy picture before the people by reiterating that the health of the people of Gujarat is a priority," he said.
(PTI)
