The Karnataka High Court has quashed a administrative decision denying Rs 50 lakh Covid-19 insurance compensation to the widow of a government worker, directing the chief commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority to review her claim under central health worker welfare guidelines.
Court Rejects Denial Based on Direct Patient Care
Justice Suraj Govindaraj set aside a June 19, 2024 rejection order issued to 29-year-old petitioner Manjushree B R, whose husband, Babu V, died in May 2021 after contracting Covid-19 while supervising pandemic operations in Bengaluru. The court held that civic authorities cannot deny compensation merely because an official was not directly engaged in treating infected patients.
The judge observed that municipal authorities had deputed Babu cross-departmentally to oversee pandemic monitoring work. The court stated that whether a worker held regular or honorarium status is immaterial, emphasizing that the government holds the responsibility to compensate families when staff contract the virus and die in the performance of official duties.
Pandemic Duties and Claim Rejection
Babu had worked on an honorarium basis in the Department of Industries and Commerce under the Jenu Krishi Sahayak programme since 1997 before transferring to the Horticulture Department in 2012. During the pandemic, official orders deputed him to serve as a nodal officer at the Gunjur Primary Health Centre under the Mahadevapura zone.
A work certificate issued by the Mahadevapura zonal joint commissioner confirmed that Babu served as a nodal officer from April 1 to April 28, 2021. His responsibilities included coordinating with taluk health officials and medical officers, tracking Covid-related activities, and submitting daily updates to the zonal commissioner.
Babu stopped reporting to work on April 29, 2021 after falling ill. He tested positive for Covid-19 on May 2, 2021, and was admitted to Prashanth Multispeciality Hospital on May 6, 2021, where he died the same day following a cardiac arrest.
Manjushree submitted initial representations seeking compensation in May and June 2021. Nearly three years later, the Horticulture Department rejected her claim, stating that her late husband had not been directly involved in patient care.
Scope of the Welfare Scheme
Representing the petitioner, Advocate G R Mohan argued that Babu reported physically to the health facility every day and faced exposure to suspected Covid-19 cases. The petitioner relied on a March 28, 2020 Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare directive, which expanded the Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting Covid-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package to include contractual, outsourced, daily-wage, and state-requisitioned personnel assigned to pandemic duties.
Next Steps for the Petitioner
Manjushree, previously a homemaker, currently works as a contractual helper at Lalbagh Botanical Garden to support her nine-year-old son and her late husband’s parents. Following the High Court ruling, she stated that she plans to submit a fresh representation to the Greater Bengaluru Authority as directed, expressing hope that her claim under the insurance scheme will yield a positive outcome.
