Gujarat to consider crematorium workers as corona warriors

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani on Wednesday said that the state government will consider crematorium employees as "corona warriors" and provide them all the benefits with effect from April 1, 2020.

The state government will also provide assistance of Rs 25 lakh to the families of crematorium workers in case of death of any such employee on duty.

"Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani has decided to consider crematorium employees as corona warriors and give them all the benefits with effect from April 1, 2020. The government will also provide assistance of Rs 25 lakh to their families in case of death of any such employee on duty," said the Chief Minister's office.

He also announced that middle-class families would be able to benefit from the state government welfare policies such as 'Maa card' and 'Vatsalya card' in the COVID-19 treatment at private hospitals.

Gujarat reported 11,017 new COVID-19 cases and 102 deaths in the last 24 hours, said the state health department on Wednesday. The new cases pushed the case tally in the state to 7,14,611.

As many as 15,264 patients have recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 5,78,397. Meanwhile, the active number of COVID cases in Gujarat stands at 1,27,483. With the new fatalities, the COVID death toll in Gujarat mounted to 8,731.