Gujarat revises Covid death figures to nearly 20,000 in submission to SC

Apex court was hearing both Gujarat and Maharashtra on steps taken for processing compensation to those who lost family members to Covid-19, based on SC guidelines

In its submission to the Supreme Court on Monday on compensation paid to the kin of those who lost their lives by Covid-19 pandemic, the Gujarat government admitted to a revised figure of 19,964, as against its own official figure of 10,099.

The apex court on Monday was hearing both Gujarat and Maharashtra on steps taken for processing compensation to the families who lost their members to Covid-19 pandemic, based on SC guidelines. The Supreme Court had asked state governments to also spread the word on such compensation scheme, especially to those in remote villages.

In its submission, Gujarat government informed the apex court that of the total 34,678 applications received for Rs 50,000 compensation, payments were made towards 19,964 applications, which is nearly 10,000 higher than Gujarat's own official death record of 10,099. In fact, in its daily bulletin, the state government's health department continued to report the official Covid death tally of 10,099 on Monday.

"Earlier, the death figures were based on ICMR guidelines. However, the apex court had asked the states to also consider deaths in the 30 days of being Covid-19 positive or even those with comorbidities," said a senior health department official of Gujarat government. Revenue department officials could not be reached for comments despite multiple attempts.

With this, the total number of Covid deaths in the country would go up to approximately 485,000.

Meanwhile, asking Maharashtra government to speed up the process of compensation, the apex court termed it "unfortunate" that only 8000 of total 87,000 applications were paid compensation. The rest of the states are yet to file their affidavits.