10 docs in Telangana, 42 in Andhra died of COVID-19: IMA

Hyderabad: After the Centre said that it has no data regarding the deaths of doctors due to the novel coronavirus in the country, a list released by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) showed that Ten doctors in Telangana and 42 in Andhra Pradesh have died of COVID-19. A total of 382 doctors have lost their lives due to the virus in the country.

The association accused the Central government of being indifferent towards the plight of medical practitioners. “The government called health care workers corona warriors, on the other hand, it left the families of deceased doctors to fend for themselves,” the IMA said in a letter on 18 September.

Earlier, the Union minister of state for health, Ashwini Kumar Chaubey, had said that the Centre has no data regarding the deaths of health workers because health is a state subject.

Pointing out Mr. Chaubey's statement, the IMA said, “This amounts to an abdication of duty and abandonment of the national heroes who have stood up for our people. IMA finds it strange that after having formulated an unfriendly partial insurance scheme for the bereaved families, to struggle with the ignominy of the government disowning them altogether stares at them,” the statement read.

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According to experts, if the government says they don’t have data regarding the COVID-19 deaths, then it may delay in granting ex-gratia to the family.

The Central government has offered compensation of Rs. 50 lakh to the kin of health workers who die of coronavirus.

In the last week of August, health professionals in Hyderabad had launched a protest after there was a delay in extending help to the family of Dr. G. Naresh Kumar who had died of COVID-19 on 7 August. After that, the Telangana government had issued ex-gratia of Rs. 25 lakh to health care workers in the state in addition to Rs. 50 lakh from the Central government.