Letters | After deadly second wave of Covid-19, is India doing enough to avert a third?

The government must plug the gaps in its poor handling so far of the pandemic. It can start by launching an audit of virus fatalities and redoubling efforts to push vaccinations

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People in Bangalore, India, attend an event on July 25 disbursing scholarships to children who lost their parents to Covid-19. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 10:00am, 1 Aug 2021Updated: 10:00am, 1 Aug 2021

A report by the Washington-based Centre for Global Development suggests that India’s excess deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic could be as high as 4.9 million. The study is co-authored by Arvind Subramaniam, a former chief economic adviser to the government of India.

Even the official fatalities figure stands at more than 414,000 - the third highest after the US and Brazil.

The vast differences between the mortality data of the government and independent agencies are alarming. The Covid-19 management in India has been far from optimum.

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Rising Ganges river gives up India’s Covid-19 dead

The fact is that there could be serious undercounting of Covid-19 mortalities in the villages and hinterland of India, where nearly 70 per cent of the population of 1.38 billion people live. Medical resources and monitoring staff are scarce in these areas.

The government should initiate a comprehensive audit of Covid-19 mortalities in the urban and rural areas. The audit should be undertaken by an independent third party, like an accounting firm.

This is important. People should trust government data, and any lingering doubts need to be resolved at the earliest.