There were 12 lakh more deaths in the year 2020 which was Covid than in 2019! The government rejected the report

New Delhi: The Union Health Ministry has completely rejected the report published in the ‘Science Advances’ paper, which claims about 11.9 lakh more deaths in 2020 as compared to 2019 during the Kovid epidemic in India. The Health Ministry has termed this report presenting excess mortality in 2020 as misleading and said that the claims of the Science Advances paper are based on unconfirmed and unacceptable estimates. The figures of excess deaths in the paper have been exaggerated by up to three times. The ministry says that those who published this paper have claimed to follow the standard methodology for the analysis of the National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5) but there are serious flaws in their methodology. While the figures say that there has been an increase of 4.74 lakh in death registration in 2020 as compared to 2019. In 2018 and 2019, there was an increase of 4.86 lakh and 6.90 lakh in death registration as compared to the previous years.The report was termed completely false
Niti Aayog member (health) Dr. V.K. Paul says that the information about excess mortality in 2020 as compared to 2019 is not correct. The study that has been published says that there have been more deaths in 2020 as compared to 2019, but the method of those who conducted the study is very weak. At that time, the National Family Health Survey-5 was going on in 14 states in the country and the researchers have collected data of only a few months, whereas the survey takes data of the entire year. The government does not accept at all that there have been 11.9 or 12 lakh more deaths in 2020 as compared to 2019. India has a strong system of Civil Registration System (CRS). The Registrar General of India has implemented it legally. The data of all the deaths that occur in the country is written in the register. It is first registered in the state and then the report comes to the center. If we look at that CRS data, the number of excess deaths in 2020 is 4.74 lakh, whereas the research paper claims 12 lakh, so the first figure is proved to be absolutely wrong.

‘Now 99.9% deaths are registered in the country’
Dr. Paul says that 92% of deaths were registered in 2019 and 99.9% in 2020. The 4.74 lakh excess deaths that occurred in 2020 during Covid also include deaths due to Covid. The government has collected data at the ground level during Covid and made a complete estimate. The number of deaths due to Covid in 2020 is around 1.49 lakh, which is included in the 4.74 lakh. Not all excess deaths can be due to Covid alone and India’s data also says the same. The Science Journal study shows a much higher estimate than the estimate which does not match the reality. Dr. Paul says that this published paper has given a wrong argument for the need for such analysis and claims that the vital registration system is weak in low and middle income countries, including India. This is far from the truth. The Civil Registration System (CRS) in India is extremely robust and reports more than 99% of deaths. This reporting has increased steadily from 75 percent in 2015 to over 99 percent in 2020.