LIC IPO Data Confirming Massive Death Numbers in 2021 are speculative: Govt

The government of India has disputed reports which suggested that death due to Covid-19 in India has been underreported.

Media reports say that the claim taken by the policyholders suggests that a huge number of deaths have taken place in India due to Covid-19. However, the government has called these reports speculative.

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said, “There has been a media report published related to IPOs proposed to be issued by LIC, wherein mentioning the details of policies and claims settled by LIC, a speculative and biased interpretation has been made that the Covid -19 related mortalities could be more than those recorded officially. It is clarified that these reports are speculative and baseless.”

“While claims settled by LIC relate to Life insurance policies taken by policy holders for deaths due to all causes, but the news reports conclude that this would imply Covid deaths were underreported. A flawed interpretation like this is not based on facts and highlights the bias of the author. It also reveals lack of understanding of how the Covid-19 deaths in India are collated and published daily in public domain since the beginning of pandemic,” the Ministry said.

The Ministry has once again reiterated that India has a very transparent and efficient system of reporting COVID-19 deaths. “Right from the Gram Panchayat level to the District-level and the State level, the process of reporting deaths is monitored and carried out transparently,” it said.