Rahul Gandhi hits out at government over WHO report of covid deaths

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today hit out at the government over a WHO report of 4.7 million “excess” Covid deaths, saying “science does not lie, Prime Minister Narendra Modi does”.

Gandhi also demanded that the government should support the families that have lost loved ones by giving them the mandated ₹ four lakh compensation.

In a tweet, he said, “47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. NOT 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn’t LIE. Modi does”.

“Respect families who’ve lost loved ones. Support them with the mandated ₹4 lakh compensation,” the former Congress chief said.

In a report released Thursday, WHO said between January 2020 and December 2021, there were 4.7 million “excess” Covid deaths in India — the maximum number that’s 10 times the official figures and almost a third of Covid deaths globally. The global figure, according to the report, was 15 million — more than double the official figure of 6 million.

India has strongly refuted the WHO’s use of the mathematical model to calculate the number of Covid deaths, saying the “figure is totally removed from reality”. Contending that the country has an “extremely robust” system of births and deaths registration, the Union health ministry, in its rebuttal, called the WHO’s system of data collection “statistically unsound and scientifically questionable”.