Sweta Singh-
Published on: August 24, 2021, at 17:47 IST
On Tuesday the Delhi High Court directed the Centre to acknowledge as a representation a PIL seeking to boost the compensation assistance to the family members of Indian citizens who died abroad due to COVID-19.
A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), Ministry of External Affairs, and Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to determine the portrayal as expeditiously as possible in accordance with the law, rules, regulations and government policy applicable to the case and disposed of the petition.
The plea sought to direct to gather and preserve proper data of those Indian citizens who died abroad due to COVID-19 and to also add the children who have lost both parents or surviving parent or legal guardian/adoptive parents due to the virus abroad but who are Indian Citizens under the “PM-CARES for Children scheme”.
The plea submitted that the worst affected are Indian migrants groups due to the pandemic as most of them have either lost their jobs or their salaries have been diminished in destination countries.
The fundamental rights that are guaranteed to all citizens are not stamped out when the person travels or lives abroad, it said.
The plea said that in several PILs, the Supreme Court has held that the NDMA has a statutory obligation to construct guidelines for recommending minimum compensation assistance to COVID victims and gave it six weeks to construct the guidelines for fixing the compensation meant for these families.