Centre review team pulls up Bengal over ‘discrepancies’ in Covid data
Inspection team also questions state’s claim of having surveyed 5 million people
NEW DELHI: An inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) sent to assess West Bengal’s response to Covid-19 has alleged discrepancies in the number of cases reported by the state, pointed to its high mortality rate, and questioned the state government’s claim of having surveyed five million people.
The team has detailed these alleged discrepancies in its final observations submitted to the West Bengal government on Monday. HT has accessed a copy of the observations. The Union sent two IMCTs to West Bengal on April 20 -- one to do on spot assessment in Kolkata, Howrah, Midnapure and 24 North Paragnas and other was sent to Jalpaiguri, Kalimpong and Darjeeling.
The state and the Centre have exchanged words over the teams, the availability of testing kits, and alleged gaps in West Bengal’s response to Covid-19.
Last week, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of maligning the state and spreading “canards” about its testing figures when the “real problem” was with the testing kits supplied. She lashed out at the two central teams for calling officers indiscriminately and hampering the fight against Covid-19. BJP has alleged that Mamata Banerjee has not provided enough protection to the medics and Centre’s relief ration is not reaching intended beneficiaries in the state. The teams have complained that they did not get enough support from the state government, said an IMCT member. Complaints of one IMCT are out in public domain.
In its observations, the first team cited the state’s April 30 medical bulletin, saying it reported 572 active cases and said that 139 patients were discharged after treatment while 33 died of the disease, making a total of 744. “In a communication to Union health secretary on the same day, the total number of cases was indicated to be 931, leading to a discrepancy of 187 cases,” the team said. It added the state classified 72 fatalities on April 30 due to Covid-19 as deaths due to co-morbidities. “The bulletin of May 1 and 2 does not even mention the total number of cases and deaths...” it said.
The team questioned the state’s claims of high daily surveillance in containment zones. “During the stay of the committee itself, over 50 lakh (five million) persons would have been surveyed in the four districts. Collating and evaluating a database of this magnitude requires very robust systems to be in place. However, no such evidence was available during our stay or field visits,” noted the IMCT leader Apruva Chandra in the observations. The IMCT notes that the state government has on April 30 made a pronouncement that henceforth all deaths of Covid patients would be indicated in the daily statistics and the death certificate would be issued by the hospital with the Committee of Doctors only examining a random sample.” The team called it a big step towards transparency, but said that the state raised the total death count of Covid-19 patients to 105 as on April 30, as per West Bengal chief secretary. “For a total reported number of 744 + 72 = 816 Covid patients, the mortality rate of 12.8% is by far the highest in the country. This extremely high mortality rate is a clear indication of low testing and weak surveillance and tracking.”
The national Covid-19 mortality rate as of Monday was 3.24%, with 1,389 deaths for over 42,835 total cases. Responding to the IMCT’s letter dated May 4, chief secretary Rajiva Sinha said, “You (journalists) are getting their letters before these are reaching us.” An IMCT member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, cited the case of a Border Security Force driver, who developed Covid-19 symptoms on May 1 to underline the state’s lax attitude. “He was tested and the result came positive on May 3. But there has been no effort from anyone in the state government to trace the contacts or get his family tested.”
The team reiterated its accusation that the West Bengal government has been “antagonistic” towards it and has not supported the IMCT in the performance of its duties. It added this is in contrast with the experience of IMCTs deputed to other states, where top officials attended their meetings.
The IMCT, which was due to submit its final report to the Union home ministry on Monday, also asked the West Bengal government to explain the methodology used to ascertain Covid-19 deaths and whether it was in line with the Indian Council of Medical Research guidelines.
TMC’s Lok Sabha leader Sudip Banerjee, too, took a dig at the IMCT and said, “There is a plan on behalf of the Centre to malign our state. We don’t blame the officers who made the IMCT. They are doing what their political masters are asking them to do. They were sent here not to help the state but to create disturbances.” The Centre has also deputed two inter-ministerial teams each to Gujarat, Telangana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu to probe possible lapses in efforts to control Covid-19 and violations of lockdown regulations. Of these, Gujarat and Indore teams have given positive feedback, that of others is not yet known.