'Bihar becomes only state to pay Rs four lakh each to kin of COVID-19 victims'

The Bihar government has paid Rs 4 lakh for kin of each of the 8,849 persons who succumbed to Covid-19. The ex gratia is estimated at Rs 353.96 crore. Bihar is the only state to announce and pay this amount for each Covid death.

There has been a growing demand by the Congress-ruled states to pay this compensation. All the Congress chief ministers had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding for the same.

In October, the Supreme Court had approved an amount of Rs 50,000 as ex gratia to the family members of those who died of Covid-19, as suggested by the central government.


"Bihar is the first and only government which announced a payment of Rs 4 lakh for the kin of people who died of Covid," Sanjay Jha, state minister for water resources and information and public relations, told ET. "In the beginning, the money was paid from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. Later it was given from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF)."

On June 9, the state government issued an order in this regard. The kin of any person who died of Covid-19 can claim the amount by presenting supporting documents to prove that the death was due to the pandemic.

As per the health department of Bihar government, there were 9,663 deaths due to Covid-19 in the state till Saturday. The state government has already made payments to the families of 3,727 persons dying of Covid-19 from the CM Relief Fund and money has been released for the kin of 6,918 persons dying of pandemic from the SDRF. Out of these, the payment has been made to 5,122 persons. This takes the total to 10,645 persons being paid the Covid compensation, more than the state list of 9,663 Covid-19 deaths.The scheme is still open and people are applying for compensation.