The Telangana government on Monday, November 8, notified the formation of the district level COVID-19 Death Ascertaining Committee (CDAC) that will issue official documents for COVID-19 deaths so that the relatives of the deceased can claim ex-gratia. The special committee has been constituted as per the guidelines that were issued by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The Department of Health, Medical, and Family Welfare of Telangana issued orders, constituting the CDAC.
The members of the district-level death ascertaining committee will consist of District Collector, District Medical and Health Officer, and Superintendent of the District Headquarter Hospital. It will also serve as a grievance redressal committee for certification of death. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) will recommend an ex-gratia amount of Rs 50,000 to next of kin of the deceased including those involved in relief operations or associated in preparedness activities subject to cause of death being certified as COVID-19 as per the guidelines it issued.
The family of the deceased has to submit an application through Meeseva centres for the issue of official documents for COVID-19 death. The committee will issue the document after examination and verification of all facts in accordance with guidelines issued by the Union Ministry and the ICMR. The death certificate will also be communicated to the Chief Registrar of the State and Registrar of Birth and Death.
The committee will also look into the grievances of the next of kin of the deceased, and propose necessary remedial measures, including issuance of amended official document for COVID-19 deaths after verifying facts. "The application for issuance of 'Official Document for COVID-19 Death' and redressal of grievances shall be disposed of within (30) days of submission of the application/ grievance (sic)," reads the Government Order (GO).
A total of 161 new COVID-19 cases and one related fatality were recorded in Telangana on Monday, taking the total number of positive cases in the state to 6,72,650 and the death toll to 3,967 respectively. The number of active cases stood at 3,750, a state government bulletin said.
The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation reported the highest number, at 50 new cases followed by Medchal Malkajgiri (12) and nine cases each in Rangareddy and Warangal Urban districts. A total of 37,844 samples were tested on Monday. Cumulatively, the number of samples tested was 2.78 crore. A total of 174 COVID-19 recoveries were reported in the latest 24-hour period, taking the total number of recoveries to 6.64 lakh.
With IANS and PTI inputs