10,000 policemen seek compensation for COVID infection

Around 10,000 members of the police, who were infected with the coronavirus while working during the pandemic, have applied for the government-announced compensation.

The home minister has sought the Finance Division’s opinion on the applications in a recent letter.

It said the police personnel submitted relevant papers with their claim.

The home ministry also asked whether it needs to forward the applications to the Finance Division.

The government in April last year announced an insurance coverage of up to Tk 5 million in case of the death of a frontline responder from the coronavirus.

The insurance coverage for the government officers in case of infection ranges between Tk 500,000 and Tk 1 million, depending on the rank.

Health professionals, field-level officers, law-enforcement personnel and other frontline responders are covered by the insurances that are backdated to Apr 1.

The amount will increase five times in case of death.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had earlier announced the coverage in an address to the nation.

The infected officials need to fill out a form and submit it along with supporting medical documents or the coronavirus test results to make a claim.

The spouse or children or parents of the officials who have died from coronavirus are able to claim the insurance money.

The insurance coverage in case of death will be additional to any financial support that is already there for the taking.

Compensation amounts:

Pay Scale Grade	Infection	Death
1-9	Tk 1 million	Tk 5 million
10-14	Tk 750,000	Tk 3.75 million
15-20	Tk 500,000	Tk 2.5 million