Government underreports Covid deaths to avoid ex-gratia payment: TDP national spokesman K Pattabhi Ram

Mangalagiri: TDP national spokesman K Pattabhi Ram on Monday accused the YSRCP government of underreporting the Coronavirus casualties with an ulterior motive to avoid the ex-gratia payments to the families of the deceased victims in the State.

He expressed concern that Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has used his over-intelligence to do injustice even with regard to the death of Covid patients.

The latest reports of the Central government's Civil Registration System (CRS) exposed the false figures of Covid deaths being submitted by the Jagan Reddy regime. Addressing a press conference here, the TDP leader deplored that the government officials were giving false reports that only 70 to 80 coronavirus deaths took place per day in Andhra Pradesh.

All this was done at the command of the Chief Minister. At a time when the cremation and burial grounds all over the State were not enough for giving last rites to the Covid deceased, the YSRCP government went on saying only tens of deaths took place due to the virus.

Pattabhi said that the CRS data revealed a whopping rise in Corona deaths by over 400 per cent in AP in May this year when compared to last year.

Usually, about 27,000 persons might have died in the month of May last year but this year over 1.30 lakh persons succumbed. Jagan Reddy was behaving as if he was giving ex-gratia from his own pockets.

If anybody would give a missed call to the TDP number '8144226661', it would bring pressure on the government to do justice to the families of the Covid victims, he said.