Rahul Gandhi Slams PM Modi Over Report On WHO's Estimate Of Covid Deaths

India said that such mathematical calculations cannot be applied to estimate the mortality figures for such a vast nation of geographical size and population.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (Image: Twitter/@RahulGandhi)

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday took a jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a recent report claiming the Indian government was stalling the efforts by World Health Organization (WHO) to publish its estimate on excess Covid mortalities.

Taking to his Twitter handle, Gandhi wrote, “Modi ji does not speak the truth, he does not let (others) speak it.”

“They still lie that no one died of oxygen shortage! I had said earlier also - 40 lakh Indians died, not 5 lakh, due to the government's negligence in Covid. Please, Modi ji - give a compensation of ₹4 lakh to every victim's family,” the Lok Sabha member from Wayanad wrote in Hindi.

मोदी जी ना सच बोलते हैं, ना बोलने देते हैं।

वो तो अब भी झूठ बोलते हैं कि oxygen shortage से कोई नहीं मरा!

मैंने पहले भी कहा था - कोविड में सरकार की लापरवाहियों से 5 लाख नहीं, 40 लाख भारतीयों की मौत हुई।

फ़र्ज़ निभाईये, मोदी जी - हर पीड़ित परिवार को ₹4 लाख का मुआवज़ा दीजिए। pic.twitter.com/ZYKiSK2XMJ

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) April 17, 2022

Notably, India on Saturday, questioned the World Health Organization’s methodology to estimate Covid deaths in the country. 

India said that such mathematical calculations cannot be applied to estimate the mortality figures for such a vast nation of geographical size and population, as per media reports.

"India's basic objection has not been with the result (whatever they might have been), but rather the methodology adopted for the same,” the Union health ministry said in the statement, adding, “The model gives two highly different sets of excess mortality estimates of when using the data from Tier I countries and when using unverified data from 18 Indian states. Such a wide variation in estimates raises concerns about validity and accuracy of such a modelling exercise.”

READ | India Says WHO's Methodology Can't Be Used To Estimate Covid-19 Mortalities For Such Vast Nation

The model applied to estimate the deaths assumes an inverse relationship between monthly temperature and the monthly average mortalities.

"WHO is yet to share the confidence interval for the present statistical model across various countries," the statement said, adding, "India has asserted that if the model is accurate and reliable, it should be authenticated by running it for all Tier I countries and if the result of such exercise may be shared with all member states.”