Pension benefits for dependents of Covid victims assured

New Delhi, May 29
The Central Government on Saturday announced financial assistance for families who have lost their earning members to Covid-19. The assistance includes a family pension and insurance benefits.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said these measures will help the affected families mitigate financial difficulties faced by them.
In a statement, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said in order to help these families live a life of dignity and maintain a good standard of living, the benefit of the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) pension scheme for employment-related death cases is being extended to even those who have died due to Covid-19.
Dependent family members of such persons will be entitled to the benefit of pension equivalent to 90 per cent of the average daily wage drawn by the worker as per the existing norms.
This benefit will be available retrospectively with effect from March 24 last year and for all such cases till March 24, 2022.
The PMO said the enhancement of insurance benefits under the EDLI scheme will in particular help the families of employees who have lost their lives due to the pandemic.
The amount of maximum insurance benefit has been increased from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh, and the provision of minimum insurance benefit of Rs 2.5 lakh has been restored and will apply retrospectively from February 15, 2020 for the next three years.
Besides this, to benefit families of contractual and casual workers, the condition of continuous employment in only one establishment has been liberalised, with the benefit being made available to families of even those employees who may have changed jobs in the last 12 months preceding his death, the statement said.
These announcements come in addition to the measures announced under PM-Cares Fund for children who have been orphaned by Covid-19.
                        India Today