Bhargav Patni along with his family ran a fair price shop in Nagarwada area which was declared as ‘red zone’. Patni had tested positive for coronavirus on April 12 and was diagnosed with dengue. He passed away on April 13.
The government awarded compensation of Rs. 25 lakh to Patni’s family. Vadodara’s District Collector, Shalini Agarwal stated that he used to weigh grains at a fair price shop, which distributed groceries during the lockdown and provided it to cardholders. He contracted the virus during his duty and has been considered a ‘corona warrior’ by the government. The amount has been transferred to the bank account of his father Arvind Patni through Real-time Gross Settlement (RTGS) of banks. Considering the threat faced by people in the line of duty, including distributors of essential items, staff, data entry operator and other helpers, provision has been made to provide assistance to the family of deceased.
It is strange that VMC has categorised Patni’s death due to dengue. Whereas, a suo moto application was seemed for Patni’s father by the department on the basis of the report submitted to the Gujarat Government by the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS). The report stated that Patni had died due to COVID-19.
