Kin to get Rs. 30 lakh ex-gratia relief in case they die of COVID

Bengaluru: Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister K.S. Eshwarappa ruled out regularising services of contract employees in Gram Panchayat level but said their family members will get an ex-gratia compensation of Rs.30 lakh in case they die of Coronavirus.

He was speaking at a function organised to release a handbook pertaining to Department achievement, Swachha Bharat, Rural Sanitation policy and others at Vidhana Soudha here on Thursday.

The Minister said those who were working on temporary basis would also get the compensation in case they die of Corona. Already, 186 employees of this Department have lost their lives due to Corona since March 2020. The Government of India has complimented the State for constituting one committee for every 50 houses in rural areas and also Task Force in Gram Panchayat level for the schemes implementation. Approval for seven mega drinking water scheme has been given under Jal Jeevan Mission.

Eshwarappa said 13 crore man days have been created under MGNREGA scheme of which 4.40 crore man days had been completed. As many as 9,10,000 works have begun in rural areas across the State. Tap water supply is planned for every house under Jal Jeevan Mission. Daily 55 litres of water will be supplied to each house. Pipeline had been laid long ago but water connection was not given. 

So far, no tariff has been fixed for tap water and it was left to the Gram Panchayats do that. Though a monthly tariff of Rs.100 has been fixed in some districts even that had not been paid by users, he said.

He said awareness on Solid Waste Management was done by GPs but places were not available to set up SWM units. As many as 22 lakh MGNREGA workers have received the jab in GP level. The wages was directly credited to bank accounts of those workers.