KOLKATA: Bengal has received as many as 18,554 Covid death compensation claims, or 91% of the total recorded deaths of 20,231, and honoured nearly 80% of those, spending nearly Rs 75 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund, even as claims from Kolkata — which has had the highest share of Covid deaths — hover around the 40% mark.
Experts are of the view that the shortfall from the city could be attributed to a section of the city’s affluent, who are not willing to spend time and energy on the process of making the claim.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court had hauled up some states for “insensitivity” over not taking proactive steps, and asked the authorities to reach out to the families of the victims without waiting for them to file claims.
State disaster management minister Javed Ahmed Khan said instructions had been given to clear all claims as early as possible. “We have got a fund of Rs 100 crore from the state disaster management authority for paying compensations and, if needed, we will ask for more. Till Tuesday, we released Rs 74.4 crore as compensation.”
Applications from Kolkata, however, have been low. Just about 2,200 applications have reached KMC (of which more than 1,500 have been cleared), though total deaths from the city, till date, is 5,458.
