AICC spokesperson Dasoju Sravan demanded the government to conduct an audit of COVID-19 deaths in Telangana, including those who died with co-morbidities, to ensure that the families of the deceased receive ₹4 lakh compensation as directed by Supreme Court.
Raising serious concerns over gross under-reporting of COVID deaths, he stressed that more than 1.5 lakh died of COVID-19 but the government has reported just 3,651 deaths, eventually preventing the families of the victims from receiving the compensation.
He said according to the data from the Centralised Repository which records deaths occurred in GHMC limits, the average number of deaths for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 is 55,791. Whereas during the year 2020, the number of deaths reported is 76,375 with an increase of 73%, as compared to the average number of deaths in preceding three years.
Similarly, in the year 2021, from January to June, the number of deaths reported is 47,472. This sudden spike in the number of deaths has undoubtedly occurred due to COVID-19 first and second waves. These figures pertain only to GHMC limits where one-third population of Telangana lives.
After a rational analysis of the data, one may infer that more than 50,000 people have died due to COVID-19 in Greater Hyderabad alone and another one lakh people would have died in the rest of Telangana. But the Telangana government is hiding the truth and under-reporting the number of deaths violating the fundamental Right to Die with Dignity, he said.
Mr. Sravan said that at least after the Supreme Court's direction, the State government should conduct a detailed audit of deaths that occurred from March 14, 2020 to June 30, 2021 and come up with true figure of actual deaths, so that these affected families will at least be eligible for receiving compensation according to NDMA Act.
