626 apply for Covid aid, but portal doesn’t have details of half of them

Noida/Ghaziabad: The district administrations of Gautam Budh Nagar and Ghaziabad have received a large number of applications for compensation from the families of Covid-19 victims whose details are not on the state government portal. The government is giving financial assistance of Rs 50,000 to the families of each person who died due to the viral infection in UP.

According to data from the health departments of both districts, 468 people in GB Nagar and 461 in Ghaziabad have died of Covid. But the number of applications for compensation in GB Nagar so far is 626, out of which the details of 326 (52%) are not the Covid portal. This number is about 160 (43%) out of a total of 374 applications in Ghaziabad.

Asked why the number of applications is much higher, officials cited the state government’s latest order, which they said has widened the ambit of identifying Covid deaths. Gautam Budh Nagar ADM (finance and revenue) Vandita Srivastava, who is nodal officer of the Covid-19 death ascertaining committee, said: “According to the latest guidelines, people who committed suicide within 30 days of contracting Covid have also been included for compensation. Likewise, if a person dies out of hospital within 30 days from the date of a positive Covid test report or being clinically diagnosed as Covid, his or her case will be treated as a Covid death.”

Srivastava said about 450 applications have been approved so far. Of the 468 deaths mentioned on the portal, 91 came from other cities like Bulandshahr and Lucknow to GB Nagar for treatment and later died. As their RT-PCR reports were generated from here, their records were uploaded on the district’s portal, she said.

“Efforts are being made that all of them get the compensation by the district administrations of their corresponding hometowns. Similarly, many GB Nagar residents died in other cities and states, but their family members have applied here. They would also be given compensation,” she added.

In Ghaziabad, 375 applications have been received. Out of this 214 are those whose details are on the portal, and 189 of them have already been approved.

Ghaziabad ADM (finance and revenue) Vivek Srivastava informed that there are about 160 applications whose details are not on the portal, of which 77 have been approved till now.

Sources in the department said details of only those who died in Covid hospitals identified by the administration were uploaded on the portal.

Many others got treatment at home and other hospitals and died during treatment, but details of such cases weren’t uploaded.