Govt suppressing actual numbers of Covid-related deaths, alleges Chidambaram

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram on Saturday slammed the central government over the issuance of 1.23 lakh death certificates between March 1 to May 10 this year in Gujarat and said that government, in conjunction with some state governments, is suppressing the actual numbers of new infections and Covid-related deaths.

Addressing a press conference here virtually, Chidambaram said, "On May 14, Divya Bhaskar, a Gujarati language newspaper, published a news story that sent shock waves throughout Gujarat and the country."

He said that the thrust of the story was that during the period March 1 to May 10 of this year (2021), Gujarat issued about 1,23,000 death certificates as against about 58,000 death certificates issued during the same period last year (2020).

"The increase was an alarming number of about 65,000 death certificates. This increase cannot be explained as a natural annual increase in the number of deaths. It can only be attributed to a pandemic or any other natural disaster," the Congress leader said.

He said that the Congress had independently verified the two numbers referred to for the period of 71 days.

"We have collected the numbers from 33 districts (including the cities), the sum of the number of the death certificates nearly tallies with the numbers published by Divya Bhaskar -- 1,23,873 in 2021 versus 58,068 in 2020.

"During the period March 1, 2021 to May 10, 2021, the government of Gujarat has officially admitted to only 4,218 Covid-related deaths," he said.

"The difference between the increase in the number of death certificates (65,805) and the official Covid-related deaths (4,218) must be explained. It cannot be explained as 'natural annual increase' or 'due to other causes'. We have a strong suspicion that the bulk of the increased number of deaths is due to Covid and the state government is suppressing the true number of 18 Covid-related deaths," Chidambaram said.

Hitting out at the government, Chidambaram said that the party's suspicions were confirmed by the fact that hundreds of unidentified bodies have been found floating on the river Ganga and nearly 2,000 unidentified bodies have been found buried on the sands along the river Ganga.

"We have a strong suspicion that the Government of India, in conjunction with some state governments, is suppressing the true numbers of new infections and 18 Covid-related deaths," he alleged.

He said, "If our suspicions are true, this is a grave misdeed apart from being a national shame and a national tragedy."

Chidambaram said that Central government and the Gujarat government owe an explanation to the people of India. "We demand answers and an explanation," he added.

Chidambaram also said that the National Human Rights Commission should collect the true numbers from every state about the death certificate issued last year and this year.