INDORE: The Indore administration has recovered around Rs 35 lakh from at least 70 people who had made multiple claims for Covid compensation. Investigation into at least 10 more applications underway.
According to senior officials, Indore administration has received around 5,300 applications for compensation for death due to Covid-19 and Rs 50,000 each has been sanctioned in at least 2,760 cases, adding up to nearly Rs 14 crore.
After the Supreme Court expressed displeasure at the delay in distributing Covid death ex gratia, the MP government had in November last year started accepting applications/claims.
Aadhaar card of victim compulsory with application
As soon as the news was out, people, who had lost their family members due to Covid began thronging the collectorate. There were long queues for submission of applications. Initially, there was pressure to dispose of the applications quickly," said a senior official.
During scrutiny later, at least 80 cases were found where the affected families had submitted multiple applications and the compensation had been paid twice.
"To stop such mistakes, we have made the Aadhaar card of the victim compulsory with the application. In most of the cases where the assistance was given out twice, banks have been told to stop-payment," the official said, adding that money has already been recovered in 70 cases.
