At least ₹1 cr compensation for poll officers who died of Covid during UP Panchayat poll: High Courts

May 13: The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday asked the Uttar Pradesh government to rethink the amount of compensation to be given to polling officers who died on duty due to COVID-19 during the Panchayat polls. A two-judge bench comprising Justice Siddharth Verma and Justice Ajit Kumar made this observation while hearing a Public Interest Litigation on the spread of the pandemic in the state and conditions of quarantine centres and said the amount of compensation “must be at least to the tune of Rs 1 crore”.

The court said that the amount decided by the government (Rs 30 lakh) to compensate the loss of the bread earner’s life of a family was too less. The court observed that it was a “deliberate act on the part of the State and State Election Commission to force them to perform duties in the absence of RTPCR support”.

On May 7, the state government had told the court the state government had decided to give compensation of Rs 30 lakh to the families of deceased polling officers. “We hope that the State Election Commission and the government will rethink the amount of compensation and come back to us on the next date fixed,” the High Court observed.