The father says, even after making rounds of various government offices and writing letters to the insurance claim disbursement authority in Delhi, they are yet to receive any compensation
Their son Dr Akshay Thakur who lost his battle with Covid-19. His parents were dependent on him
The father of a Thane dentist, who died of Covid-19, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking compensation. Dipak Thakur had to borrow money to meet hospital expenses of his now-dead son Dr Akshay Thakur and for the treatment of his wife and himself. This comes at a time when the Centre has told the Supreme Court that states should pay Rs 50,000 to the kin of those who died of Covid.
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On July 3, this newspaper had highlighted the need for recompensing Covid-19 survivors and those whose livelihood was impacted due to the pandemic. Earlier, the SC had also asked the Centre to take a call on ex gratia for such people.
Thakur, 62, told mid-day, “I had no option but to move the Bombay High Court against the government for not keeping to their assurance of paying Rs 50 lakh to the next of kin. Even after making rounds of various government offices and writing letters to the insurance claim disbursement authority in Delhi, I am yet to get any compensation.”
About the Centre’s affidavit on ex gratia, Thakur said, “It is rubbing salt on our wounds. To claim this Rs 50,000, I will be made to run from one office to another. This shows that the government is not concerned about our sufferings.”
What the petition says
Advocate Nitesh Nevshe, who is appearing pro-bono for Thakur, said they have made “one of the largest public sector insurance companies”, the Union of India through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the State of Maharashtra as parties in the petition.
Thane resident Dipak Thakur with his wife Pratibha
“Our contention is that the state minister for health had publicly appealed to frontline doctors to open their clinic and do regular practising, also an assurance was given that the next of kin would be paid a compensation of Rs 50 lakh in case of death during the course of duty. However, Dipak Thakur was deprived of this rightful claim, when he approached the Insurance Claim Disbursement Authority under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan package: Insurance Scheme for Health Worker Fighting Covid 19, under the instruction of Central and State Government,” said Advocate Nitesh.
The petition says the insurance scheme covers all public healthcare providers including community health workers, who may have to directly contact and care for Covid patients and who may be at risk of being impacted. Nitesh said, “My client had to borrow lakhs of rupees for treating his son, wife and himself for Covid. Dipak had invested his retirement funds for ensuring that his son became a dentist and unfortunately, the death came knocking a month before Akshay was to get married.”
Centre washing its hands of Dr Santosh Kadam, secretary-Thane district of Indian Medical Association, said, “The central government is shrugging off their duty of giving compensation to Covid warriors and survivors with disabilities. They are expecting the states to give compensation but in spite of many representations, the state government has done nothing.” He said that in the early days of the pandemic, the government had urged healthcare workers to serve the community.
Death certificate challenge
Dr Ketan Vagholkar, Professor of Surgery at DY Patil Medical College, welcomed the Centre’s stand on compensation but added, “The final death certificate does not mention the cause of death. Therefore, the next of kin will have to submit the entire hospital record of the deceased to prove the cause of death due to Covid. This process could be cumbersome and needs to be clarified.”
In early days of the pandemic, govt had urged doctors to come out and serve people
Dr Santosh Bansode, HoD, Emergency Medicine, Wockhardt hospitals, said, “More than 1,450 doctors died due to Covid-19 while serving the community. What happened to the promise of Rs 50 lakh compensation to families of doctors who died due to Covid? Will they still get the promised sum, if yes then when? And if no, then why no? Some doctors’ families were fully dependent on them; those families continue to suffer, in isolation.”
He said an ex gratia from State Disaster Management Fund (SDMF) is akin to shifting the responsibility on respective states. “When all were at home only Covid warriors were working on the field and many sacrificed their lives serving the nation. They deserve more I feel,” said Dr Bansode.
What lawyers say
Advocate Dinesh Tiwari, a senior criminal lawyer, said the government’s initial stance had undoubtedly indicated it was encouraging doctors to start dealing with all patients including non-Covid. He said, “In such a case it is highly unbecoming on the part of the government not to honour their commitments of payment of R50 lakh to all the doctors whether private or government.”
Advocate Rajeshwar Panchal said US gave more than Rs 50,000 to its citizens for their daily needs during the lockdown
On the Centre’s ex gratia suggestion, he said, “In such a case the victims would be reduced to a football which would be kicked by the central government as well as state governments. The Supreme Court should come to the rescue of such people who have lost their earning members and were left without any support mechanism.”
Advocate Rajeshwar Panchal said, “The expression ‘compensation’ itself denotes making good someone’s loss. The amount given to citizens during lockdown for their daily needs in countries like the USA is much more than Rs 50,000. Although no amount can bring back the life of Covid victims, this kind of amount further adds salt to their injuries.”
1,450
No. of doctors who died of Covid-19 in two waves
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