Many Indians can’t prove their loved ones died from Covid. And that could be a problem

But hospitals in the Indian city of Varanasi had run out of space, oxygen, medicine, tests — everything. “They told us everywhere was bad and people were lying on the hospital floors, and that there were no beds at all,” the 33-year-old said. His mother died before she could be tested for Even if victims have a death certificate, many don’t explicitly list Covid-19 as a cause as they weren’t officially diagnosed, said Jyot Jeet, chairperson of the Delhi-based organization SBS Foundation, which conducted free cremations during the second wave. Instead, many Covid victims’ death certificates “either say they died of lung failure, respiratory disease, cardiac arrest,” he added.The guidelines say families can apply to amend the cause of death on a death certificate, and assert that no families will be denied compensation “solely on the ground” their death certificate does not mention Covid-19. A district-level committee will review their application and examine the deceased member’s medical records — and if they agree Covid was the cause of death, they will issue a fresh death certificate saying so, according to the guidelines. However, no further details have been provided on what criteria the committee will use to gauge the cause of a months-old death, and what evidence families will need to provide. “That is absolutely complicated,” said Pranay Kotasthane, deputy director of the India-based Takshashila Institution think tank, adding that if the government is resolved to help people rather than policing the money, the plan could benefit families. 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But as his condition deteriorated, he told her to take care of their children.”I didn’t know how I would do that,” said the 33-year-old mother, who lives in India’s capital region Delhi. “I haven’t been to school and didn’t know what I could do to make money.” Sharma says her husband’s death certificate lists Covid as the cause — but she may still face an uphill battle. The program promises families will have their compensation within 30 days of proving their eligibility, although previous government initiatives — both before and during the pandemic — have been beset by long delays and frustrating bureaucracy.”Underprivileged or poor communities are the worst hit — first by Covid and second by the system,” said Jeet, the SBS Foundation chairperson. Because of their low literacy levels, he added it is “a tedious task” for families to navigate the complications in the system, which includes collecting the appropriate paperwork, filling out forms, communicating with local district officials and providing medical information. The country’s The shortages also led to a boom in the black market, which price gouged oxygen cylinders and medicine. With no help in sight from the government, many families had no choice but to empty their savings and borrow money to buy overpriced goods, in the hope of saving loved ones.Simran Kaur, founder of Pins and Needles, a non-profit organization supporting Covid widows in Delhi, said some women are facing debts while caring for several young children alone and without a breadwinner. “They are already in so much debt because overnight, they went from earning a monthly salary through their husbands to earning nothing,” she said. “A one-off payment from the government will not solve everything. It won’t educate her children, pay their rent, or put food on their table. It might sound good on paper, but it’s not enough.”The compensation might be able to help India’s poorest families . But for most families, especially ones that have lost multiple members to Covid, “50,000 rupees is going to do nothing,” said Srivastava, who lost his mother.Since the second wave, he and his sister — who were both ill with Covid while trying to save their mother — have recovered from infection. Deeper scars remain, as well as anger toward a government that “had barely done anything to prepare for Covid,” he said — but “there’s no option but to recover from the tragedy.””In India, people accept the fate, they say that it was God who did it, console themselves and move on,” he added. “We have the habit of enduring the tragedies. But it’s the government that has to make an effort.”