After authorities rejected a woman’s claim for compensation after her husband died of Covid-19 in 2021 while working at a primary health centre in Bengaluru, the Karnataka High Court has directed the chief commissioner of the Greater Bengaluru Authority (GBA) to consider a fresh representation seeking Rs 50 lakh compensation for the woman under the Centre’s insurance scheme for health workers.Justice Suraj Govindaraj set aside a June 19, 2024 communication rejecting the claim of petitioner Manjushree B R (29), widow of Babu V (38), and directed the GBA to decide her fresh representation in accordance with law.Manjushree had approached the High Court in 2024 contending that her husband, who was deputed as a nodal officer at the Primary Health Centre in Gunjur under the Mahadevapura zone, should be treated as a “Covid warrior”. According to the petition, Babu was responsible for coordinating with medical officers and taluk health officials, monitoring Covid-related work and submitting daily reports to the zonal commissioner.She sought compensation under the Insurance Scheme for Health Workers Fighting Covid-19, introduced under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package.Relying on a March 28, 2020 communication issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Manjushree argued that the scheme covered staff requisitioned by state governments or local urban bodies for Covid-related responsibilities, including contractual, outsourced and daily-wage employees. She contended that her husband fell within the ambit of the scheme.Her representations dated May 25, May 31 and June 1, 2021 were not acted upon. Nearly three years later, the Horticulture Department rejected her claim, stating that Babu had not been directly involved in treating Covid-19 patients.‘Reported to health centre every day’The petitioner’s counsel, Advocate G R Mohan, said Babu had been physically reporting to the health centre every day as the designated nodal officer and was exposed to suspected Covid-19 patients in the course of his duties.Story continues below this ad“It is not correct on the part of the authorities to contend that merely because he was not directly treating patients, his dependants are not entitled to compensation for his death due to Covid-19,” Mohan said.Babu had been working on an honorarium basis in the Department of Industries and Commerce since 1997 under the Jenu Krishi Sahayak programme before being transferred to the Horticulture Department in 2012. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he was deputed as nodal officer at the Gunjur Primary Health Centre pursuant to an official order.He stopped attending work on April 29, 2021 after falling ill, tested positive for Covid-19 on May 2, 2021 and was admitted to Prashanth Multispeciality Hospital, a designated Covid hospital, on May 6, 2021. He died the same day after suffering a cardiac arrest.To establish that Babu had discharged Covid-related duties before falling ill, Manjushree relied on a work certificate issued by the Joint Commissioner, Mahadevapura Zone, certifying that he served as nodal officer from April 1 to April 28, 2021.Story continues below this adAllowing the petition, the court observed, “Apparently, the BBMP (the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike, which was replaced by the GBA in 2025), exercising cross-department supervision during the Covid period, had deputed Babu V as a nodal officer for monitoring Covid-related issues when he was working with the Horticulture Department. He contracted Covid and died during the performance of his duties. It is the responsibility of the government, whether it is the Horticulture Department or the BBMP, to have made payment of due compensation and not deny it.”The court further said that the nature of Babu’s appointment was immaterial. “Irrespective of whether the deceased was on honorarium or regular appointment, the fact remains that it was the BBMP which had appointed him as a nodal officer in Gunjur,” it observed.‘From pillar to post’Manjushree, who was earlier a homemaker, now works as a contractual helper at Lalbagh Botanical Garden to support her nine-year-old son and her in-laws.Speaking to The Indian Express, she said she would comply with the High Court’s direction and submit a fresh representation.Story continues below this ad“I have been running from pillar to post and requesting several officials to process my claim. If the High Court has again asked me to make a fresh representation, I will follow the court’s order and do so,” she said.Asked about the delay in processing her claim, she said, “I am only asking for what is due to me under the insurance scheme and nothing more. I am hopeful that, with the court directing the GBA to consider my fresh representation, there will be a positive outcome.”