Bolangir: A total of 25,032 persons succumbed to the Covid-19 pandemic in Odisha since its outbreak. It has been close to two years since the virus attack subsided. However, 3,857 families of the deceased are yet to get compensation as they did not apply for it, RTI activist Hemant Kumar Panda stated here Tuesday in a release. Even though, 20,397 families have got compensation, the remaining ones have not received it. The families of the deceased were given compensation of Rs 50,000 each. The matter came to the fore in a written reply (letter no6077/R & DM, dated-22.11.2023) issued to an application filed under Right to Information (RTI) Act by Panda.
Khurda district recorded the highest number of Covid-19 fatalities with 5,986 persons dying while Deogarh had the least number of deaths at 74. Cuttack district came second with 3,468 deaths, followed by Sundargarh (1,941), Ganjam (1,772), Sambalpur (1,468), Bargarh (858), Puri (784), Balasore (768), Angul (721), Mayurbhanj (647), Jajpur (645), Bolangir (586), Kalahandi (524) and Keonjhar (524). In the other districts the fatalities were less than 500. Panda informed that 21,175 families of the deceased had applied for compensation. However, among them, a total of 778 families are still waiting to receive compensation. No one knows why their applications have been held up. This is in addition to the 3,857 families who did not apply.
So overall 4,635 families are yet to get compensation, Panda pointed out. Panda questioned as to why government officials did not reach out to the bereaved families who did not apply for the ex-gratia sanction. Panda pointed out that in many districts the number of families who received compensation was more than the deaths registered. “The districts where more families got compensation than the number of registered fatalities are: Angul, Bolangir, Balasore, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Deogarh, Dhenkanal, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Jharsuguda, Nayagarh and Puri,” Panda said. “However, in some of the districts like Cuttack, Khurda, Boudh, Ganjam, Sambalpur, Koraput and Malkangiri a lot of families are yet to get compensation. In these districts lesser number of families has got the government ex-gratia than the total number of deaths registered,” added the activist. Panda, in the release also appealed to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to look into the matter and provide compensation at the earliest to those families who have still not got it. “They are entitled,” he said.