veil of failure

Although it was common in the media of the country and abroad that the actual number of deaths due to corona infection is not coming out. The study of many domestic and foreign institutions also revealed that there is a huge difference between the official figures of those who died and the actual figures. Especially in rural areas, where there has been an absolute lack of investigation and treatment, a large number of people were feared to die. There was also a reality that the helplessness arising out of lack of treatment and oxygen, the pressure of dead bodies at the crematoriums and the number of dead bodies floating in the Ganges and buried on the ghats were not matching with the government figures. The way the Bihar government revised the death toll due to corona infection on Wednesday surprised the whole country. Due to these figures, the death toll from corona in the state increased by about four thousand in a day. This increase was 73 percent of the total figures, due to which the daily death toll at the national level has exceeded six thousand. This figure is the largest number of people who die in a single day in the whole world. In fact, the Patna High Court ordered the state to audit the death toll from Corona in April-May on allegations that the actual number of dead was not revealed. After that committees were formed at the district level. Due to which the death toll of 3971 came out on Wednesday. Actually, those deaths were also added to these figures which took place in private hospitals and home quarantine. This also included deaths from the effects of complications that occurred once they had recovered from the corona. Apart from this, those deaths also happened on the way to the hospital. Undoubtedly, every death during the pandemic should have already been recorded in the statistics.

Undoubtedly, it is very important to have reliable data in such a crisis. Here the question is not only of Bihar, the revised figures should come out afresh in the whole country. Initiatives like Bihar should be in every state. This shows that the state governments do not want to let the correct figures come out to cover up their failure. Undoubtedly, the second wave of corona infection was frightening and the country’s already weak medical infrastructure was crippled by it, but there should have been a serious initiative from the governments side. For a long time, opposition parties and foreign media have been questioning the figures of corona infection, recoveries and dead in India. Which shows that the state governments were not serious and cautious in saving the data related to the epidemic. It should have happened that sincere efforts would have been made to collect such data at village, block and district level. If real data were collected in time with the help of local administration, private efforts and other voluntary organizations, then such questions would not have been raised on the policy and intentions of the governments. Undoubtedly, after the end of the second wave, the attacks on the credibility of the government’s data will intensify. In the age of information revolution and social media, it is difficult to cover up statistics. On the other hand, in this era of epidemic, data will have special importance in future also. The information obtained from the figures of the infected and the dead will also help us in preparing to fight any future disaster. It is also a question of the credibility of the governments. There is also a reality that in a country like India with a huge and complex complexity, it is not easy to collect every data, but on the basis of the available resources on the part of the governments, sincere efforts should be made. Otherwise, the meaning of official figures will be called distrust. The country has the right to know about every life lost in the pandemic.