MCC undertakes survey to identify beneficiaries for Government compensation

Mysore/Mysuru: Of the 1,200 people who have succumbed to COVID-19 in the city, families of over 300 victims have not been traced till now.

The Mysuru City Corporation (MCC) had conducted door-to-door surveys to trace the family members but surveyors were able to trace only 900-odd families.

Tasked with disbursing compensation provided by both the State and Central Governments to the families of COVID victims, the MCC formed teams to trace the families of the victims. While 1,200 victims died within the city limits, the District reported overall 2,436 deaths.

The State Government has declared a compensation of Rs. 1 lakh to families Below Poverty Line (BPL) who lost a family member to the pandemic. Compensation would be provided to only one member of the family. This apart, the Centre has declared a compensation of Rs. 50,000 for both BPL and Above Poverty Line (APL) categories.

According to guidelines issued by the State Government, the families where deaths occurred at homes without the patients getting a COVID-19 test done or being admitted in hospitals for COVID-like symptoms, will not be eligible for compensation.

To claim the compensation, beneficiaries will have to provide a “COVID-19 positive report from a recognised laboratory” which should have been uploaded in the ICMR portal, they should have a patient number and should be certified by a qualified medical practitioner.

The MCC received over 800 applications and teams were sent to verify each application.  “We launched the survey to trace the families of each victim and we found that family members of over 300 victims were missing. Through the survey we have weeded out bogus applications,” MCC Commissioner G. Lakshmikantha Reddy told Star of Mysore.

The list of eligible families for compensation have been submitted to the Deputy Commissioner’s Office along with the list of those eligible families who cannot be traced, the MCC Commissioner added.