The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to issue fresh guidelines for providing minimum standards of financial help to families of those who lost their lives to COVID-19.

A special bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and M R Shah said the court cannot direct the Centre to fix a particular amount of financial help but the government can fix the minimum standard of amount to be paid as ex-gratia to family members of those who lost their lives due to COVID-19 while keeping various aspects in mind.

The bench said the government can fix a reasonable amount while keeping in the mind the funds and resources available with the country.