40 lakh Indians died due to 'govt negligence' during COVID-19, says Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi a report by The New York Times that claimed that the Indian government was stalling the efforts by the World Health Organization (WHO) to publish its estimate on excess COVID-19 deaths.

Rahul Gandhi claimed that 40 lakh Indians died during the coronavirus pandemic due to the government's "negligence" and once again demanded that all families of the deceased be given Rs four lakh compensation each.

Taking to Twitter, Rahul Gandhi shared the screenshot of a New York Times report which claimed that India is stalling the WHO's efforts to make global Covid death toll public. "Modi ji neither speaks the truth, nor lets others speak. He still lies that no one died due to oxygen shortage!" Rahul Gandhi charged in a tweet in Hindi along with the screenshot of the report.

"I had said earlier also - due to the negligence of the government during Covid, not five lakh, but 40 lakh Indians died," he said.

"Fulfil your responsibility, Modi ji - give compensation of Rs four lakh to every (Covid) victim's family," Gandhi said.

India on Saturday questioned the World Health Organisation's (WHO) methodology to estimate COVID-19 mortalities in the country, saying using such a mathematical modelling cannot be applied to estimate the death figures for such a vast nation of geographical size and population.

The Union Health Ministry issued a statement in response to the article titled 'India Is Stalling WHO's Efforts to Make Global Covid Death Toll Public' dated April 16, saying the country has on several occasions shared its concerns with the global health body over the methodology used.

(With inputs from PTI)

Published on: Sunday, April 17, 2022, 01:33 PM IST