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The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has listed 'death by drowning' as a disaster, making the victim's family eligible for a compensation of Rs 4 lakh under the state disaster relief fund (SDRF).
Death by suicide, however, will not be considered for compensation. According to an order issued by additional chief secretary (revenue) Renuka Kumar, this is in addition to nine situations considered disasters under the SDRF. Death by drowning in a well, river, lake, pond, canal, pit and puddle will also be considered as a disaster from now on. The district magistrate, where the death takes place, will have the authority to determine whether the death was an accident or suicide as the families of suicide victims will not be eligible for state assistance. To ensure this, a panchnama of the victim will have to be carried out compulsorily. For the release of funds under any category of disaster, the SDM will have to verify the claim of the family. This step is being taken to ensure that no fraudulent claims are made. In 2018, the government had added four categories of death to the list of disasters. These were snake bite, boat tragedy, death while cleaning sewer or gas leak and man-animal conflict. An official had said that snake bite had been included since there were several such cases, particularly in flooded areas, during monsoon. The categories already listed under SDRF before 2018 included death due to unseasonal rain or heavy rainfall, lightning, storm, loo and falling into a borewell. The directions come in the light of a central government order which had asked the state to formally list state-specific disasters within the local context for inclusion in SDRF. --IANS amita/in ( 297 Words) 2021-06-11-13:20:03 (IANS)
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