Delhi govt launches financial assistance scheme for families of Covid victims

New Delhi, July 6

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday launched a scheme and an online portal to provide financial assistance to families who lost their loved ones to Covid and asked officials not to find faults in their claim applications.

Under the 'Mukhyamantri Covid Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana', Rs 50,000 ex gratia will be given to every family that lost a member to Covid and an additional Rs 2,500 per month will be given if the deceased was the sole breadwinner.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Kejriwal said the "fourth wave" of Covid in Delhi affected almost every family and many people died.

"Many children were orphaned, many families lost their sole breadwinner. In such a case, being a responsible government, we conceptualised this scheme," he said.

"We are launching a portal through which such people can apply for financial assistance. Our representatives will also visit such families and get applications filled up," he added.

The chief minister said such representatives would not reject claims of families in case any document is missing and would only facilitate the process.

"I want to tell all such representatives not to conduct scrutiny of applications. If the families lack any document, we will help them obtain it. We have to make sure that we make this happen. Don't find faults with their documents...don't make them unhappy, encourage them," Kejriwal said.

"We have to ensure that we provide financial assistance to such families as soon as possible," he added.

The Delhi government's Department of Social Welfare had notified the 'Mukhyamantri Covid Pariwar Aarthik Sahayata Yojana' on June 22.

The notification stated, "The government will also consider a single member of the affected family to be enrolled as a civil defence volunteer. Besides, the state affirms to look after the health and education needs of the dependent children as per existing policy." There is no income criterion to apply for financial assistance under the scheme. PTI