Supreme Court Rules Families of All COVID-19 Duty Doctors Entitled to Rs 50 Lakh Government Insurance

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that families of doctors who died while performing their duties during the COVID-19 pandemic are eligible for Rs 50 lakh insurance coverage under the "Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana" scheme.

Justices P S Narasimha and R Mahadevan overturned a Bombay High Court judgment that had previously determined private doctors were not eligible for coverage under the government's insurance program.

"There is a requisition of the services of doctors and this is evident from the conjoint reading of the provisions of the Act, the Maharashtra Prevention and Containment of COVID-19 Regulations 2020, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Order dated March 31, 2020, the PMGKY-Package Scheme, the explanatory communication to the PMGKY policy and the FAQs released," stated the bench.

The court emphasized that the invocation of laws and regulations aimed to ensure all doctors were requisitioned, and the insurance scheme was designed to assure healthcare professionals on the frontlines that the nation stood with them.

The Supreme Court specified that individual insurance claims under the PMGKY-Package would be evaluated and decided according to law and based on evidence presented.

"The responsibility to prove that a deceased lost their life while performing COVID-19-related duties falls on the claimant and must be established with credible evidence," the court added.

The top court was addressing an appeal against a March 9, 2021 Bombay High Court order which had ruled that private hospital staff were not entitled to benefits under the insurance scheme unless their services were specifically requisitioned by state or central government authorities.

The case originated from Kiran Bhaskar Surgade, whose husband operated a private clinic in Maharashtra's Thane before succumbing to COVID-19 in 2020.

Her insurance claim under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) was rejected on grounds that her husband's clinic was not recognized as a COVID-19 hospital.

The PMGKP was introduced in March 2020 and its coverage has been extended multiple times since then.

The program was established to provide a safety net ensuring that families of health workers would be supported in case of any adversity due to COVID-19.

The Rs 50 lakh insurance coverage under PMGKP has become a crucial support system for dependents of COVID warriors who lost their lives to the infection.