The Centre filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court in response to petitions seeking compensation of ₹4 lakh to family members of those who died of Covid19.

Replying to the notice, they said that they cannot pay the compensation amount to the next of kin of the deceased as it would entail a huge financial liability i.e their finances will be overstretched.

However, they made it clear that they had already made payments and a lot of government measures had been introduced for the needy persons.

Seeking to explain its stance on the matter, the Centre said that spending all available funds under SDRF would leave no money for mounting an effective response against the virus, “including provision of various essential medical and other supplies, or to take care of other disasters like cyclones, floods, etc.”

The centre in its affidavit also said due to increased health expenses and low tax revenue, states cannot afford to pay compensation for lakhs of Covid victims.

Nearly, 3.8 lakh people have died of COVID-19 and compensation for each of them would be beyond the fiscal affordability of governments.