Ahmedabad: The Narendra Modi government has paid Rs. 304 crore to Gujarat for Covid-19 management and treatment, the state government revealed on the second and final day of the assembly’s monsoon session on Tuesday.
The state government said it had made a demand of Rs 310 crore from the Centre for Covid-19 for the financial year 2020-21, of which it had received just over Rs. 304 crore. The state government said it utilized the entire funds, including Rs. 244 crore in the previous fiscal and Rs. 60.6 crore in the current year.
Incidentally, the state government has made a demand of Rs. 796 crore from the central government for the current financial year, but it has not received any funds yet.
According to a reply by health minister Rushikesh Patel in the assembly, the state government utilized Rs. 81.4 crore for purchasing medicines and PPE kits, Rs. 68 crore for purchasing ventilators and other equipment, and Rs. 14 crore for Covid-19 treatment.
The state government also revealed in the assembly that 211 children lost both parents to Covid-19, while 10,827 children have lost one parent. The total number of lives lost to Covid-19 thus works out to 11,249, which is much higher than the Covid-19 deaths as per health department data. The Opposition Congress alleged the government was fudging Covid-19 data and not releasing the correct figures. The state government has decided to pay Rs. 50,000 each to the next of kin of people who have lost their lives due to Covid-19.