Madhya Pradesh lags behind other states in Covid testing: Kamal Nath

Senior Congress leader Kamal Nath

on Tuesday said Madhya Pradesh lags behind other states in conducting COVID-19 tests.

In a letter addressed to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Nath asked him to ensure that the number of tests is increased.

"Till the mid of this month, as compared to other states, Madhya Pradesh has conducted an average of 12,000 tests per 10 lakh population while in states like Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Assam, the number of tests (conducted) is more than 50,000 per 10 lakh population," the former chief minister stated.

The state Congress president also said that because of lesser number of tests, Madhya Pradesh is ranked at the 15th place, which is the lowest among the list of the most-affected states.

Nath said the state government conducting a lesser number of coronavirus tests is a matter of grave concern.

"The campaigns being run by the state government are a mere formality and they are more confined to publicity only," he said.

Nath alleged that the efforts being made by the government are not serious in nature and they are not aimed at making the state and the people infection-free.

He requested the government to make serious efforts in this regard "so that Madhya Pradesh can set an example for the country and the world by becoming infection free from the pandemic".

The COVID-19 case tally in Madhya Pradesh stood at 47,375 as on August 18, as per health department.

As per the government data, 10,72,575 samples have been tested so far in the state.