Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya
Managed by state owned New India Assurance,the scheme provides comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to 22.12 lakh healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers, who may have come in direct contact with and were involved in the care of Covid-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted by the disease
New Delhi:
Families of atleast 1,616 deceased healthcare workers who were involved in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic has been paid insurance claims worth Rs 808 crore under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) insurance scheme launched on March 30, 2020,said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.
Managed by state owned New India Assurance(NIA),the scheme provides comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to 22.12 lakh healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers, who may have come in direct contact.
The scheme has been extended several times.
In a written reply, Mandaviya said 201 compensation claims amounting to Rs 100.5 crore had been paid in Maharashtra till January 2022.
As many as 160 claims amounting to Rs 80 crore were paid in Andhra Pradesh.
To another query during Question Hour, the minister said health is a state subject and the related data is collected by the states and then reported to the central government. Mandaviya said the WHO has issued guidelines on collecting the data on Covid-19 deaths.
Based on these guidelines, the Centre has created a platform and asked the states to submit the data on Covid-19 deaths on it, he added.
So far, all the state governments have submitted data of over 5 lakh deaths caused by Civid-19, Mandaviya said, asserting that the Centre has nothing to hide.
The Centre has also asked states to reconcile the data if they failed to submit it, he said, adding that many states have done that. “We disclose whatever information we get from the states,” he said.
The Centre launched the PMGKP scheme on March 30, 2020, for health workers fighting Covid-19.
The scheme provides comprehensive personal accident cover of Rs 50 lakh to 22.12 lakh healthcare providers, including community health workers and private health workers, who may have come in direct contact with and were involved in the care of Covid-19 patients and may be at risk of being impacted by the disease.
Replying to a supplementary question, Mandaviya complemented all doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers for doing exemplary work during the first, second and third wave of the pandemic.
He said the country was able to successfully handle the pandemic because of the efforts of these health workers.