NEW DELHI: A day after the WHO’s damning pandemic report, the Congress on Friday sought an all-party Covid commission to ascertain the number of fatalities and demanded Rs 4 lakh compensation be paid to families of all the victims.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi accused the government of under-reporting Covid deaths and asked if it was a way to escape from paying compensation to the families of the deceased. “47 lakh Indians died due to the Covid pandemic. Not 4.8 lakh as claimed by the Govt. Science doesn’t lie. Modi does. Respect families who’ve lost loved ones. Support them with the mandate? 4 lakh compensation (sic),” he tweeted.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said when crores of people were pleading for oxygen, medicines, and hospital beds for their families, the government was focusing on juggling figures. “The people of the country should know what the truth is,” she said.
The opposition party reiterated its demand that a Covid commission be formed immediately with members from all parties to analyse the deaths that happened due to unavailability of oxygen, broken supply chain in case of vaccines and medicines.
“The mismanagement of the Covid pandemic by the BJP government is not hidden from anyone. The apathetic attitude has been evident all along. The nation saw people gasping for oxygen during the second wave. The world saw the Modi management style when thousands of bodies were floating in the Ganga,” Congress spokesperson Gaurav Vallabh said.