ICMR Rebuts UK Study on Excess Deaths During 2020 Pandemic

ICMR's Director General, Rajiv Bahl, disputes a UK study claiming 11.8 lakh excess deaths in India during the 2020 Covid pandemic. He emphasizes the robustness of India's Civil Registration System, which reports over 99% death coverage. NITI Aayog member VK Paul also dismissed the study as poorly conducted.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has firmly rejected a recent UK study alleging 11.8 lakh excess deaths in India during the 2020 Covid-19 pandemic. ICMR Director General Rajiv Bahl emphasized the robustness of India's Civil Registration System, which boasts a death reporting coverage exceeding 99%.

Bahl clarified that the study conflates all-cause mortality with Covid-19 specific deaths, potentially leading to confusion. 'Our Civil Registration System is extremely robust now with 291 thousand units reporting births and deaths. Our death coverage today is over 99%, making it unnecessary to look at other data sources,' he stated.

NITI Aayog member VK Paul echoed Bahl's sentiments, calling the study's methodology 'outrageous' and riddled with 'extrapolation'. He emphasized that it did not reflect India's national scenario as it was based on data from only 14 states and Union Territories. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare also criticized the study as 'methodologically flawed and unacceptable.'