The Karnataka State Bar Council (KSBC) has urged the State government to sanction ₹25 crore, in addition to the ₹5 crore released last year, to pay compensation to a large number of advocates who have either lost or suffered reduction of income because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to the government, KSBC chairman Srinivasa Babu L. pointed out that a majority of the advocates were from rural backgrounds and need financial assistance as they and their family members have been severely affected by to second wave, which has added mental stress as well as financial losses. The KSBC pointed out that already more than 200 advocates have lost their life to COVID-19.
₹1.06 crore relief
The KSBC said that it had recently released financial assistance of ₹1.06 crore to 733 advocates in the State who were either undergoing home quarantine or hospitalised after testing positive for COVID-19 during the second wave.
Meanwhile, A.P. Ranganatha, president of the Advocates’ Association, Bengaluru, urged the State government to consider advocates as frontline workers. In a letter written to the Chief Minister, he called for the release of compensation of ₹30 lakh each to the kin of advocates who have died of COVID-19, as in the case of the death of frontline workers.
