Shillong, May 27: Meghalaya government has decided to provide ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the next of kin of those that succumbed to COVID-19 since April 1, 2021.

Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong made the announcement following a review meeting here on Thursday.

Tynsong said close to 340 to 350 COVID-19 deaths have taken place due to COVID-19 since April, 2021.

When asked why not give to all the people who had succumbed to the virus since 2020,

Tynsong said the government would have been willing to extend help but it had high expenses made last year. “We have spent close to Rs 400 crore providing a different kind of reliefs, we had spent a lot last year. So taking into consideration the impact we have seen this year, it is huge and has affected the people mentally to each and every citizen of the state,” he said.

The government will issue a notification, under which the DCs and DMHO will identify the deceased, after which the DC will send the proposal to the government for sanction.

Following this, the government will issue the cheque and it will be handed to the families.

Prefab corona care centers

The government has decided to create corona health facilities in the state by the prefab construction taking into consideration the urgency and challenges that we have in the state.

On a media report that the prefab corona care centers don’t have the proper facility, Tynsong clarified that the government had come up with these prefab Corona health facilities in the state after taking into consideration the urgency and the challenges which the state was facing.

He added that the Government decided to construct two prefab Corona health facilities in the state, one in Shillong and the other in Tura. Tynsong said that for setting up these two, the Government through the Ministry of DoNER has provided 6.7crores to the state for setting up. Both these facilities will have a capacity of 100 beds each.