New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday condemned Kerala’s stance in the disbursal of compensations for the relatives of those who died due to Covid-19 as piteous. The apex court pointed out that only 548 persons have received the compensation in a state that reported over 40,000 Covid deaths. It directed the state to distribute the amount, Rs 50,000, for all within one week.

The state government informed the Supreme Court that 40,855 Covid deaths are recorded in Kerala till now. However, only the relatives of 10,777 deceased have applied for the compensation. Among them, 1,948 persons were identified as deserving and the rest of the applications are being thoroughly examined, said the government. But the bench consisting of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagaratna was unsatisfied by the government’s statement.

The court directed the state to file an affidavit before considering the plea next time. It also advised the state to advertise the compensation.

Additional solicitor general Aiswarya Bhatti referred to the affidavit submitted by Kerala over the disbursal of the compensation as obscure.