Kollam: A death declaration certificate is no longer required to apply for the Covid-19 ex gratia payment in Kerala. The application can be submitted online along with the death certificate issued by the local body and the DDD Certificate number from the Covid Death Declaration List on covid19.kerala.gov.in.

The names of the deceased will appear on the said list as soon as the appeal committee approves them. Application for the ex gratia can be submitted only after that. However, the declaration certificate delays the process by another two weeks. With the new development, this can be avoided.

The government is trying to simplify the process and speed up distribution of the ex gratia. Despite Sunday's special drive to clear the backlogs, around 7,000 families are yet to apply for compensation. Houses of the deceased were visited by officials to complete the process.

Lack of knowledge about compensation and clamours over ownership are believed to be the prime reasons behind the delay. Though the death lists were prepared grama panchayat wise, the applications are accepted only by the village offices. This also caused confusion.

The Supreme Court on January 19 had slammed Kerala on the lapses in distributing the ex gratia. It had ordered to complete the process in a week and also said that the applications shall not be rejected on technical issues. Kerala has to file another affidavit on the progress on Friday.

Total deaths: 52,786

Online applications: 43,160

Offline application: 2,060

Total applications: 45,220

Rejected: 394

Undecided: 4,071