The Punjab government has announced an ex gratia of ₹50 lakh to the dependants of government employees who die while on duty fighting the novel coronavirus.
The Finance Department in an order on May 8 said “... the government of Punjab, after careful consideration, has decided to put in place special provisions with regard to ex gratia admissible to dependant/legal heirs of employees who die in harness while on government duty during the fight against Coronavirus pandemic”.
The order shall be applicable to all categories of regular government employees including those recruited on or after January 1, 2004, and covered under the new pension scheme.
Punjab recorded 31 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday and reported two more deaths, taking the tally to 31, according to an official statement.
The number of positive cases has reached 1,762 on May 9. The patients who died were from Ludhiana and Hoshiarpur districts. The Health Department said majority cases, 17 and five, were reported from Jalandhar and Fatehgarh districts respectively. The active cases are 1,574 and 157 patients have so far recovered, it added.
Contact tracing
Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that across the State, 11,078 persons were identified who came in contact with COVID-19 patients; of these cases, 11,056 have already been traced by the department — 99.9% contact tracing.
In Chandigarh, 23 new cases surfaced, taking the tally to 169.
