On August 16, the Supreme Court gave the Centre four weeks to frame ex-gratia compensation norms for Covid-19 deaths. However, the court asked the Centre to indicate within two weeks steps taken on death certificate guidelines in Covid-19 cases and social security and welfare measures as suggested by the Finance commission.In its June 30 order, the Supreme Court said the government was required to pay ex-gratia compensation for Covid-19 deaths since Covid-19 was declared a notified disaster under the 2005 Act. However, the court did not fix the quantum of compensation and left it to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to fix the amount while framing the guidelines within six weeks. “By the time you take further steps, the third wave will also be over. The order on death certificate, compensation etc was passed long back,” the Supreme Court said.
