Govt dismisses New York Times report on COVID-19 toll, terms it completely baseless
New Delhi, May 27: The government on Thursday dismissed as "completely baseless" a recent New York Times report on COVID-19 toll in India, saying it is not backed by any evidence.
At a press conference, the Union health ministry said the report is absolutely false and based on "distorted estimates".
The report titled "Just how big could India's true Covid toll be" estimated 600,000 deaths due to the infection in the country in a conservative scenario, 1.6 million estimated deaths in a more likely scenario and 4.2 million estimated deaths in a worse scenario.
Dismissing the report, Health ministry Joint Secretary Lav Agarwal said, "It is completely baseless and absolutely false and not backed on any evidence."
"The question does not arise that Covid-related deaths are getting concealed because since the beginning, our efforts have been that all cases and deaths are reported in a transparent manner. It is also necessary so that we can understand the overall trajectory of infection and what efforts have to be made so that required actions can be taken for it," he said.
NITI Aayog Member (Health) V K Paul said the report is based on distorted estimates.
"The estimates have been done ad-hoc without any basis... reported cases are a part of a larger universe of total infections in any country," he said.
He said the problem in the analysis arises "when certain number is thrown as mortality rate out of that infection".
"If we go with our sero survey, then infection related mortality is 0.05 per cent and actual mortality is 1.1 per cent... They are taking 0.3 per cent - 6 times - on what basis has it been decided that it is 0.3 per cent of that large infection number - no basis at all," Paul said.
He further said that if the same method is used, then by that estimate New York reported 50,000 deaths in May.
"I make it six times, it is 90,000 deaths and if I do it 12 times, it is 1.75 lakh deaths but they don't say that, they say it is 16,000. What I mean to say here is this is a distorted estimate for mortality. For infection estimate, they used our data only from January which can still be acceptable," Paul said.
"On what basis this group pulls out infection mortality rate of 0.3 per cent in one scenario and 0.15 another scenario and 0.6 in another scenario? On what basis, this is just an assumption and a feeling of some people and this is something that should have been not published particularly in so called prestigious publication. I submit that we have a strong mortality tracking system which has stood the test of time," he said.
Paul said there might be deaths where testing was not done but "outrageous factor suddenly without any basis and just on assumption is not fair and we don't accept it".
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Sujit Nair raises concerns over speculation of DMK-AIADMK understanding to block TVK
Chennai: Journalist and political commentator Sujit Nair has expressed concern over speculation that the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam could explore a post-poll understanding to prevent Vijay-led Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam from forming the government in Tamil Nadu.
In a social media post, Sujit Nair said the election verdict in Tamil Nadu reflected a clear public demand for political change and argued that the mandate should be respected irrespective of political preferences.
Referring to reports and political discussions surrounding a possible understanding between the DMK and AIADMK, he said he hoped such developments remained only speculative conversations and did not turn into reality.
Nair stated that if such an alliance were to take shape, it would raise serious questions about ideological politics in the country. He said TVK had emerged through a democratic electoral process and that the legitimacy to govern in a parliamentary democracy comes from the people’s verdict.
According to him, attempts to prevent an electoral winner from forming the government through unexpected political arrangements may be constitutionally valid, but many people could view them as politically opportunistic.
He further said that such a move could particularly affect the political image of the DMK, which has historically projected itself around ideology, social justice and opposition politics. Nair said that in ideological terms, the DMK appeared closer to TVK than to the AIADMK, and joining hands with its long-time political rival only to remain in power could weaken its broader political narrative.
He added that the same questions would apply to the AIADMK as well, as the party had spent decades positioning itself against the DMK and such an arrangement could create discomfort among its cadre and supporters.
Drawing a comparison with Maharashtra politics in 2019, Nair said he had expressed similar views when the Shiv Sena formed an alliance with the Indian National Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party after the Assembly elections.
He said post-poll alliances between long-standing political rivals often create a public perception that ideology and electoral mandates become secondary when political power equations come into play.
Nair also said such developments increase public cynicism towards politics and reinforce the belief among voters that ideology is often sidelined after elections.
He maintained that the Tamil Nadu verdict was emphatic and said respecting both the spirit and substance of the mandate was important for the credibility of democratic politics.
