COVID-19 Deaths: Officials Deny Fadnavis Charge On Suppressing Numbers

Maharashtra health authorities denied former chief minister and BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis' charge that the state government was hiding the number of COVID-19 deaths. Former Maharashtra chief minister accused the Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in the state of suppressing the number of deaths related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a series of tweets, Fadnavis alleged that more than 950 deaths in Mumbai were suppressed and questioned why there was such gross negligence.

The former Maharashtra chief minister pointed out that "if the Govt. of Maharashtra's own circular says that every case should be decided in 7 days, 560 cases of May and 148 cases of June have not been decided yet by the Death Audit Committee in Mumbai." Fadnavis added that these numbers do not get reflected in the state government's data in spite of being deaths on account of COVID-19.

Fadnavis pointed out that it was the state government which had set up the Death Audit Committee at every district and municipal level and wondered how the panel defied ICMR and WHO guidelines. The BJP leader questioned whether the committee was formed to prevent deaths or hide numbers.

Maharashtra government officials however, said that a data reconciliation exercise was being undertaken. The state government had no reason to hide data, officials told media sources, and since these are government records of lasting importance, data will be placed in the public domain after verification and due diligence in 2-3 days, they added.