Govt Rejects Claims Of India Undercounting Covid Deaths, Calls It Fallacious & Inaccurate

A published research paper had claimed that there have been between 32 lakh to 37 lakh deaths in India due to Covid-19 till early November 2021. 

(Representative Image/Getty)

New Delhi: Responding to several media reports that cited India has had much higher deaths due to the Coronavirus pandemic than officially counted, the Central government on Thursday said that the claims are fallacious and inaccurate, and not based on facts. 

According to a clarification issued by the Press Information Bureau, a published research paper had claimed that there have been between 32 lakh to 37 lakh deaths in India due to Covid-19 till early November 2021. 

However, the government said the official count is just 4.6 lakhs. 

❌Media reports claiming #COVID19 mortality higher than official counts are ill-informed & speculative

✅India has a robust system of recording COVID deaths based on a statutory framework

✅Reporting of deaths is regularly done in a transparent mannerhttps://t.co/v8raQU4aIJ pic.twitter.com/MDkWf5zPxS

— PIB India (@PIB_India) February 17, 2022

"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 statement further 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 have been shared with the States and the States are following it," the release by Centre said,

"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. 

Furthermore, the government also pointed out that there has been an added push in India to capture and report all COVID19 deaths due to the entitlement to monetary compensation to the next of kin of each and every COVID19 deceased person.

It also said that the whole process is being continuously monitored Supreme Court of India and hence the 'undercount' is due to reluctance or inability of families and local authorities is fallacious and far from the truth.