The Odisha State Election Commission on Tuesday revised the scale of payment of ex-gratia and compensation amounts in case of deaths and injuries due to any violent act of anti-socials in road mines, bomb blast and Covid-19 during election duty.
According to a notification issued by the SEC, Odisha, an ex-gratia of Rs 30 lakh will be provided to the family member of the polling personnel if his/her death is caused due to any violent act of extremist or anti social elements in road mines, bomb blast, armed attacks in course of the election duty.
Similarly, if a polling personnel dies due to Covid-19 during election duty, the family of the deceased will get Rs 30 lakh compensation, while cashless medical treatment will be provided if a polling official gets infected with the coronavirus, the notification stated.
Below is the exhaustive list of the revised Ex-gratia and Compensation scale:-
Payment of such ex-gratia shall be applicable to all Civil persons whether Government (both Centre and State)/Corporation (including Central and State P.S.U.)/Local bodies or Drivers & Helpers of Government and private vehicles and police personnel including Central Police Forces (C.P.F) engaged by the competent authority for election related duty in Odisha during General Elections to Panchayats, 2022 and thereafter including by-elections.
A person is to be treated on election duty, as soon as he /she leaves his / her residence / office to report for any election related duty, including training and until he /she reaches back his / her residence / office after performance of his / her election related duty. Any mishap takes place during the said period shall be treated as having occurred on election duty subject to the condition that there should be a casual connection between occurrence of death / injury and the election duty, the notification issued by the SEC read.
According to the guidelines issued by the SEC, the Death Certificate specifying the reason of death has to issued by the Medical Officer and countersigned by the CDMO concerned certifying specifically that the Death is caused due to COVID-19. The duty period is to be counted from the date and time of reporting for election duty before the Election Officer and ends with being relieved by the Election Officer from election duty.
The family of the deceased personnel or the personnel disabled/grievously injured on election duty can apply for compensation/ex-gratia with following documents:-
- Duly filled in claim form
- Certificate from the Collector that the deceased/disabled was on Election Duty
- Certificate from the District Superintendent of Police that the deceased/disabled personnel was on Election Duty (In case of police personnel/(C.P.F)
- A copy of FirstInformation Report (FIR)
- Postmortem report in case of mishap/unnatural/unidentified death
- Appointment letter as a proof of appointment in Election Duty where ever applicable
- Medical Report of the CDMO of the District / Government Medical Colleges Hospital
This benefit is also applicable for the period of Bye-election conducted in the State.
The application and report referred to above shall be sent by the concerned Election Officer with his recommendation to the State Election Commission, Odisha within one month of the receipt of the application.