Lawyers demand Rs 5 lakh health insurance cover for self, family

Kanpur: Advocates’ body Adhivakta Kalyan Sangharsh Samiti has urged the state government to provide health Insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh to lawyers and their families.

In a virtual meeting of Adhivakta Kalyan Sangharsh Samiti on Tuesday, its convener Ravindra Sharma asked the chief minister to announce a family health cover for advocates as they are also officers of courts and might get infected with Covid-19. Apart from this, they do not have any source of income as the courts have been closed due to the pandemic in compliance with the orders of the Allahabad High Court.

Sharma said, “It is very sad that the statements of even the government advocates to provide relief to lawyers were being overlooked. In the present time, the advocates are not only struggling for their bread and butter, but are also facing health problems. Several advocates have lost their lives in this pandemic and their family members are in financial crisis.”

“A family health insurance cover of Rs 5 lakh is must for advocates and their families. The chief minister should consider this issue and demand,” Sharma added.

BL Gupta, president of the Income Tax GST Bar Association said that the family health cover for advocates is a need of the hour as the income of lawyers is almost zero during closure of courts. Vinay Awasthi, general secretary, Sales Tax Bar Association, Avinash Bajpai, former president, Lawyers Association, Dinesh Verma, president, Commissionerate Bar Association and others also attended the virtual meeting and supported the demands.

Source: The Times of India