Centre Has 6 Weeks To Frame Rules For Compensation For Covid Victims

The Supreme court said that as per the Disaster Management Act, "minimum standards of relief", which includes payment of ex-gratia assistance is mandatory.

Guidelines for compensation to families of COVID-19 victims - including amount of compensation - should be framed by the NDMA, or National Disaster Management Authority, within six weeks, the Supreme Court told the centre on Wednesday morning. Noting it was not within its ambit to decide on compensation rules or amount, the court criticised the NDMA - the agency responsible for such details - for failing to discharge its duty, and said it was bound to give "minimum standards of relief, which includes ex-gratia assistance". "We direct NDMA to form guidelines for ex-gratia compensation for family members of persons who succumbed to Covid, as per minimum standards of relief," a two-member bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and MR Shah said. "What reasonable amount is to be provided is left to the wisdom of the authority," the judges added.