"Deaths due to heatwave must be compensated under SDRF calamity relief fund," says Rajasthan Minister Kirodi Lal Meena

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], May 31 (ANI): As the intense heatwave grips the state of Rajasthan, Minister Kirodi Lal Meena said that the heatwave death toll claimed by the opposition is far from reality and a total of five people have so far lost their lives.
"8-10 days ago, we issued heatwave guidelines which reached the general public through the district administration. The state health department has stated that as many as five people have died due to persistent heatwave conditions in the state," said the Rajasthan Minister.
The postmortem has proved that the reason behind the death of five people in the state is loo. The heatwave death statistics claimed by the opposition are far from the truth. It cannot be denied that heatwave is a natural calamity. I will meet the Chief Minister in this regard," he added.
Meena further stated that the deaths due to heatwaves and severe colds must be compensated properly. He added, "Deaths due to heatwave and severe cold must be covered under the SDRF calamity relief fund. I will urge the state CM to consider the same."
Speaking about MGNREGA workers, Kirodi Lal Meena said that the timings have been changed to 5:30 pm-12:30 am. "The labourers have been provided full payments and adequate shadow and proper drinking water facilities," he added.
As the heatwave is persistent across several other parts of the country, four people succumbed to heatstroke and died at the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) in Odisha's Sundargarh on Friday morning, said an official.
Additional District Magistrate (ADM), Rourkela, Ashutosh Kulkarni shared details about the heatwave-related deaths and said, "As many as 50 patients were brought to the RGH Hospital yesterday following extreme heatwave conditions in the district, after which all of them were admitted. Four people succumbed to the heatstroke and died here at the hospital in Rourkela." (ANI)