Sunstroke victims miss out Apathbandhu scheme aid due to poor awareness

Sunstroke deaths continue in Adilabad amid severe heatwave conditions, but many families are missing government compensation under the Apathbandhu scheme due to lack of awareness about procedures. Officials say eligible beneficiaries can claim Rs 4 lakh aid through formal documentation.

Adilabad: Sunstrokes continue to claim lives of people with the district being gripped by scorching heat wave conditions. However, in a majority of cases family members of the victims are not getting compensation provided by the government under Apathbandhu scheme as they are apparently unaware of the application process to claim the financial aid.

Maximum temperature of several parts of erstwhile Adilabad district is hovering around 45 degrees Celsius. On Sunday, Khanapur in Nirmal mandal had the maximum temperature of 45.9 degrees C. Dasturabad mandal of Nirmal district registered the highest maximum temperature in Telangana by 46.0 degrees Celsius, while Sathnala mandal in Adilabad district registered the maximum temperature of 45.9 degrees Celsius on April 28.

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At least five people died of sunstroke in different parts of Mancherial, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Nirmal and Mancherial district in April. Sunstroke claimed the lives of Kotrangi Jayaram (40) from Rechini and Tekam Gajanan (43), a farm laborer belonging to Arli (T) village a few days back. A 60-year-old woman Challuri Rukmamma died of sunstroke at Gundla Sumaram village on April 19.

However, family members of the victims are missing out on the enhanced compensation provided by the government. The financial relief has been increased to Rs 4 lakh from Rs 50,000 under the scheme given in the past. This can be attributed to poor awareness among the public over the facility. The kin of the victims are not coming forward to claim the monetary support.

Revenue officials said that the eligible beneficiary could easily avail the financial aid by submitting copies of death certificate, FIR and post-mortem examination at the office of local Tahsildar or Mandal Revenue Officer (MRO). They stated that family members should duly report deaths at a nearby police station. A three member committee comprising medical officer, station house office and Tahsildar sends a report to the government.

The compensation is granted to an eligible beneficiary after both Revenue Divisional Officer (RDO) and Collector scrutinise the report, the officials explained.