Congress demands inquiry into allegations of data fudging by ICMR

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday demanded that an inquiry should be conducted into the data fudging by ICMR as party alleged the medical body manipulated data to keep the political masters happy which led to the loss of human lives.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi, Congress General Secretary Ajay Maken alleged that senior scientists, who worked with the ICMR, and other organisations, are now coming forward to point out serious irregularities in 'Covid management'. They have pointed out political interference and fudging of data by ICMR. Political interference resulted in preventable deaths of more than 50 lakh people in India, he said.

"The Congress demands a criminal investigation against the Prime Minister, the then Health Minister, and also against Management of ICMR. The inquiry should be conducted by sitting judge," Maken said.

He said that the party will raise the issue in and outside parliament. "Now, as the time goes by, more and more scientists who worked with the Indian Council of Medical Research are coming forward with startling facts of political interference and arrogance which was not only against 'science and democracy', but also caused millions of preventable deaths. These scientists, to name a few, include Dr Anup Aggarwal, Dr Naman Shah, Dr Somdatta Sinha, Dr Shahid Jameel and some others are gradually opening up in social media and foreign publications."

Maken alleged, "In June 2020, a study commissioned by the ICMR concluded that Modi's lockdown had slowed but would not stop the virus's spread. Within days, the authors withdrew it. And ICMR tweeted the withdrawal. Some of the scientists now say that they were forced to withdraw the report. In July 2020, DG, ICMR, Dr Balram Bhargav forced ICMR scientists to withhold data, based on serological studies, which suggested that virus was spreading to 10 cities. This deliberate blunder led to loss of lakhs of lives."

He said, "the second Covid wave hit India severally in April 2021. The Modi Government was caught unprepared, people of India were left to fend for themselves. Black Marketing of drugs like Hydroxychloroquine, Ivermectin, Fabiflu, Dexona, Tocilizumab, Remdesivir, Paracetamol was galore. A single injection of Remdesivir was selling between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh, Tocilizumab injection for up to Rs 10 lakh in black market".

"People gasped for breath and died as there was no oxygen. People died as there were no ventilators. People died as there were no hospital beds. Lakhs of bodies floated in the Ganga and other rivers. The Modi Government abandoned India as close to 50 lakh people died," he further said.