Explained: The government data on deaths and the scrutiny over COVID-19 mortalities

The Registrar General of India has revealed that as many as 81.2 lakh people died in India in 2020, the first year of COVID-19. The deaths registered in 2020 were about 4.75 lakh, or 6.2 per cent, more than the previous year. The Civil Registration System (CRS) data was released ahead of the World Health Organisation’s report on the country-wise number of COVID-19 deaths in the last two years. The data showed that about 1.49 lakh people died due to COVID in India in 2020. However, it is believed to be an undercount as several studies and reports have suggested a much higher number of deaths in India. By Wednesday morning, 5,23,920 deaths had been recorded due to the disease. What does the new data reveal about COVID-19 deaths? The CRS is a record of all deaths and births, it does not categorise deaths by causes. So in essence, the CRS data released on Tuesday does not reveal anything new with respect to COVID-19 deaths in the country in 2020. It showed that there was an increase of about 4.75 lakh deaths compared to the previous year. The total number of deaths, 81.16 lakh, also include deaths caused by COVID-19. While the CRS contains registered deaths and births, a separate system called the Sample Registration System (SRS) relies on a regular survey-based process to estimate the total number of births and deaths in the country. In simpler words, even though there has been a steady increase in the registration of deaths and births, it is not done for all cases. So while the CRS presents a count of registered births and deaths, the SRS gives an estimate of the total number of births and deaths. The SRS data for 2020 has not been made available by the government. What is the scrutiny over COVID-19 death data? The World Health Organisation is expected to release on Thursday its report on the country-wise number of COVID-19 deaths in the last two years. However, ahead of releasing the full report, the WHO has estimated at least four-times as many deaths as India has officially recorded. According to a report by The New York Times, Indian officials were delaying the publication of the WHO report that is expected to place estimated mortality from COVID-19 at 40 lakh as of the end of 2021, about eight times India’s officially reported coronavirus toll of 4,80,000. According to a report by The Wire, the WHO has also recorded the Indian government’s request that the WHO numbers be delayed by “10 years”. However, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr VK Paul has defended the CRS data, saying that these were “absolute, correct and counted numbers” and modelling can lead to “absurd estimation”. “There is a public narrative in the media, based on various modelling estimates, that India’s COVID-19 deaths are many times the reported figure – that’s not the case in reality,” he told state TV, as reported by The Wire. “We now have actual data for 2020, there is no need to do any modelling now. We will have actual, robust data for 2021 too. Modelling can lead to overestimation, absurd estimation,” Paul added. With inputs from agencies Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.