The government data on Covid-19 patients show variations in as many as 18 districts out of the 26 in Madhya Pradesh in the past three to four days, prompting the public health experts to demand an inquiry into it and Opposition Congress to attack the BJP government.
As on Sunday evening, as per the state government’s health bulletin, Madhya Pradesh had 1,407 Covid-19 patients in 26 districts, out of whom 72 had died. There are 52 districts in Madhya Pradesh.
As per the state government’s data, Ratlam in Malwa region had 12 cases of Covid-19 on April 17. It went up to 13 on April 18 but it declined to nine on April 9. Similarly, Khargone in Nimad region had 39 patients on April 17 and it increased to 47 the next day but later it came down to 43 on April 19.
Ujjain, another district in Malwa region registered 30 cases on April 16. There was addition of one patient to the list the next day. But suddenly the number came down from 31 to 23 on April 18 and again it rose to 31 the next day.
In tribal dominated Dhar district in Malwa region, the number of patients shown in the bulletin on April 16, 17, 18 and 19 was 6, 10, 24 and 21 respectively. In Alirajpur, another tribal dominated district, there was just one patient on April 17. The number went up to five on April 18 but came down to three on April 19.
In Morena in Gwalior-Chambal region, there were 14 cases on April 17. In the next day’s state government bulletin, the number was shown as 13 but it went up to 16 in April 19 bulletin. Gwalior has a similar story. It had six patients on April 17, but came down to two the next day and again rose to six on April 19.
There are similar variations in the number of Covid-19 cases in Indore, Chhindwara, Barwani, Betul, Sheopur, Khandwa, Raisen, Dewas, Shajapur and Mandsaur.
More interesting is the case with Satna district. Two Covid-19 positive cases in Satna were shown in the bulletins from April 14 to April 16 but then the disstrict disappeared from the list.
In none of the variations the government issued any clarification as to why the numbers decreased or any district’s name was dropped from the list of Covid-19 affected districts.
Public health experts say since the government is providing cumulative figures of Covid-19 patients every day the figure will either increase or remain stagnant but it can’t decrease. There can be decrease in the number only in such situations when any person’s sample test report is found incorrect later or any patient’s name is added to any other district. But in such situations the government is expected to clarify this which didn’t happen.
Public health expert Amulya Nidhi said, “A clerical error can happen in the data of a few districts and can be understood but such variations in data of about 70% of the Covid-19 districts is beyond comprehension. This is a serious issue as the same data are used to analyse the situation prevalent in the country by World Health Organisation (WHO), government of India and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). A transparency in data means effective management of the situation.”
He said that many times the data of the districts released at the district level differed from the state bulletin and thus it led to confusion as to what is the real situation about the Covid-19 patients. Also, the state bulletin is expected after the districts provide their data to the state headquarters at about 4 pm but there were occasions as on Sunday itself when the state bulletin was released at 2 pm. “Collection and compilation of data, its accuracy and its timings of release are as important as measures being undertaken to control the situation. Hence, an inquiry should be conducted as to why so much variations in the data and who is responsible for the same,” he said.
State Congress president’s media coordinator Narendra Saluja alleged, “Since the BJP government has failed in controlling the situation it has started manipulating the data. It corroborates our stand that the government has miserably failed in protecting people of the state.”
“It was a clerical error,” said Commissioner, Health Services, Faiz Ahmad Kidwai.
Additional chief secretary, Health department, Mohd Suleman said, “Variations in data come after reconciliation between lab and district data. Repeat samples and rejections need to be factored in.”
A health department official who didn’t want to be named said, “The state bulletin reflects the data received from the districts. Hence, there might have been variations in the data received from the districts. As far as Satna is concerned since the two persons who tested positive over there belong to Indore Satna’s name was deleted from the list later.”
State BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “There is a possibility of some minor changes when the entire state’s data are collected but there is no possibility of any irregularity in it.”