Law Kumar Mishra
Patna, June 10
Bihar Health Minister Mangal Pandey on Thursday admitted that the statistics of Corona deaths were underreported earlier and the figure was up by a whopping 73 per cent against the data reported earlier.
Patna topped the list with 1070 deaths. Pandey said that earlier, deaths reported from the government hospitals were recorded. “On the orders of the Patna High Court, we started an audit of Corona cases and in the last two days, the figure rose to 9429 against 5424 till June 8,” the Minister said.
He said a survey was conducted in the last 15 days by the government agencies. People who lost their relatives and friends in the second wave were in mourning and did not report deaths earlier. Now, they have started reporting Corona deaths, hence the figure rose to over 9000. People who had tested positive but died in their homes have been included in the revised list.
In the second wave of Corona, over 8,000 people died. The State Government has asked the DMs to collect figures and information from the relatives who lost their Corona patients under treatment in their homes. The massive discrepancies in death figures forced the minister to announce an inquiry into the major lapse and promised action would be taken against the guilty officers soon. Information is being collected from the rural areas too, he assured.
In Patna town, there is under reporting as only 8 out of 26 private hospitals where Corona patients were treated gave information about deaths. There is no information from the Corona dedicated private hospitals. In the three crematoriums in Patna-Bans Ghat, Gulbi Ghat and Khajekalan on the banks of Ganga, Patna Municipal Corporation staff had allowed cremation with Corona protocols for 1548 bodies, but district administration had reported only 446 deaths last month. Even the numbers of those dying in Corona wards were unreported, according to the audit report conducted by the health department and released yesterday.
Audit was done on the orders of Patna High Court which is monitoring the Corona management on a daily basis and opened a special cell in the court to receive complaints from the common man. Patna High Court had commented, “We are aghast. What could be the situation in other parts of the state.” Court had slammed the government on discrepancies in the figures supplied by two senior officers in their affidavits on the deaths in Buxar district. While, divisional commissioner in his affidavit had submitted 790 people were cremated in one week at Charitravan Ghat in Buxar with Corona protocols, chief secretary in his affidavit claimed 70 between May 5 and May 14. The High Court was hearing a petition on floating bodies in the Ganga.
Leader of Opposition Tejaswhi Prasad Yadav, in a tweet said, “Still, Government is hiding death figures, it is 20 times more than reported so far.” Akhilesh Prasad Singh claimed over one lakh people have died of Corona in Bihar. There is no report from the villages in government records.
According to the health department spokesman, “the basis of corona deaths reporting was from the daily health bulletin from medical college hospitals,civil surgeons.” Total number of deaths reported on the official web site on June 7 was 5424 and on June 8, it rose to 9375.” It is still far lower than the bodies cremated at different cremation grounds, some opened by DMs as a contingency measure.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar visited different parts of the state capital in his SUV and regretted that the majority of the people were still not using Masks, inviting risks.
