DMK president and leader of Opposition MK Stalin demanded that the Tamil Nadu government to give Rs 50 lakh as compensation for frontline workers contracting coronavirus and succumbing to the infection while on duty, as announced earlier. This came after a government order on Thursday halved the amount to Rs 25 lakh.
On April 22, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 50 lakh to the kin of frontline workers who died due to COVID-19.
Condemning the sudden decision of the government, Stalin said, "The decision of the AIADMK government to provide Rs 25 lakh as compensation for frontline workers in case they die due to coronavirus is not appropriate and highly condemnable. The frontline employees are working for 24 hours even without differentiating between day and night."
The DMK leader said that the Chief Minister initially announced a solatium of Rs 10 lakh, and upped it Rs 50 lakh after the central government’s announcement. However, the government has now reduced the compensation to Rs 25 lakh.
Stalin said the frontline workers are doing exceptional services saving the lives of people by ignoring the confusing announcements of the AIADMK government and by forgetting their own sadness.
He said, “The government or the press releases issued on the behalf of the government by the family welfare department do not show the data on the number of deaths of frontline workers. The government is constantly hiding the sacrifice of the frontline workers."
He also questioned how many frontline workers received Rs 2 lakh as promised by the government for getting treatment for coronavirus.
“I urge the Tamil Nadu government to keep aside the hasty efforts to allocate unnecessary money for tenders and corrupt practice and instead allocate Rs 2 lakh for frontline workers receiving treatment for coronavirus and Rs 50 lakh for workers who have succumbed to coronavirus and provide a government job for the kin of the deceased workers,” he added.