Ranchi: Jharkhand State Disaster Management Authority (JSDMA) on Tuesday decided to increase the ex-gratia amount from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 4 lakh for the kin of victims who died in road accidents. The decision to increase the amount was taken following a meeting of JSDMA which was also attended by disaster management department minister Irfan Ansari and other officials.“The govt is working to control road accidents through various interventions but at the same time, considering the incidents, it has been decided to include road accident deaths at par with other disasters in the state by granting the same ex-gratia,” said Ansari.To improve the disaster tackling efforts of the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), JSDMA also decided to form a standard operating procedure (SOP).“The state currently runs Yuva Aapda Mitra Scheme in Dumka, Godda, Pakur and Sahibganj districts, which will be extended to other places. Also, a decision was taken to prepare a database of volunteers associated with this scheme and link it with the Emergency Response Support System (ERSS), so that the services of Yuva Aapda Mitras can be easily availed in times of need,” an official said adding that the department is further working plans to simplify the process of providing ex-gratia grants to dependents of deceased in various identified local disasters.
