More on Covid-19

NEW DELHI: The government on Friday announced to pay ex-gratia or monetary compensation in the range of Rs 10 lakh to Rs 35 lakh for employees and contractual labourers of Food Corporation of India , in case anyone dies due to coronavirus infection.This will cover around 1.09 lakh workers and officers.The compensation will be provided in case of corona-related fatalities during duty which occur till September 23 (within six month from March 24 when lockdown came into effect).This model of paying ex-gratia is likely to be replicated for truck drivers and helpers as well who are engaged in essential services. The government is going a launch portal for registration of drivers and helpers for this purpose and their credentials will be verified.Announcing the decision for FCI employees and contractual labourers, Union food and consumer affairs minister, Ram Vilas Paswan said at least 80,000 labourers are working 24x7 to supply food grains across the country amidst the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic.A source said the Centre approved the monetary compensation to dependent members or legal heirs of FCI employees and workers to protect their families.The government departments are taking the ex-gratia route rather than insurance cover as the latter will require high premium.There monetary compensation has been put under six categories. There will be Rs 35 lakh compensation for about 600 employees, Rs 30 lakh for 6,000 employees and Rs 25 lakh for nearly 16,000 employees. Similarly, there will be Rs 15 lakh compensation for other FCI employees including watch and ward and cleaning staff .The compensation for contract labourers has been fixed at Rs 10 lakh.Meanwhile, a food ministry spokesperson said currently families of FCI employees are entitled to compensation in case of death due to terrorist attack, bomb blast, mob attack or natural disaster. But the regular and contractual labourers are not covered.