The Central government has responded to media reports and claims that India has had much higher deaths than officially counted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The government said the reports are fallacious and inaccurate, and not based on facts.
As per a release issued by the Press Information Bureau, the published research paper had claimed that there have been between 32 lakh to 37 lakh deaths in India due to COVID-19 by early November 2021. The government said the official count, on the other hand, is 4.6 lakhs.
“There have been some media reports based on a published research paper alleging that mortality due to COVID19 in India is much higher than the official count and actual numbers have been undercounted… As has been stated earlier for similar media reports, it is again clarified that these reports are fallacious and completely inaccurate. They are not based on facts and are speculative in nature,” the government said.
The release stated that there is a robust system in India to report deaths, including those fatalities caused by COVID-19. The government asserted that deaths in the country are reported in “a transparent manner”.
“Based on globally acceptable categorization, Government of India has a comprehensive definition to classify COVID deaths which has been shared with the States and the States are following it,” the release added.
“The study quoted in the media reports has taken four distinct subpopulations — the population of Kerala, Indian Railways employees, MLAs and MPs, and school teachers in Karnataka, and uses triangulation process to estimate nationwide deaths. Any such projections based on limited data sets and certain specific assumptions must be treated with extreme care before extrapolating the numbers by putting all states and country of the size of India in a single envelope,” it added.
The government said there has been an added push in the country to capture all COVID-19 data, including deaths, as the kin of the deceased are entitled to monetary compensation. And this process is being monitored by the Supreme Court of India, the government added.
