The Congress on Sunday criticised the Union government over the alleged mismatch between the official toll during the Covid-19 pandemic and the deaths during the period revealed by the civil registration system data.

The data published on May 7 revealed that India had recorded at least 37.4 lakh excess deaths in 2020 and 2021 compared to 2018 and 2019, the two years preceding the Covid-19 pandemic.

Excess deaths or mortality refers to the difference between the total number of deaths during a pandemic or any other natural disaster compared to the number of deaths that would have been expected under normal conditions. The difference is an indicator of the likely death toll, as it captures deaths that went unreported.

On Sunday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said that while the Opposition had for long claimed that the Narendra Modi-led government had “systematically underreported” Covid-19 deaths, “we now learn that there were an additional 20 lakh deaths reported across India in 2021 alone”.

“Most of these can be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic – and this estimate of 20 lakh is nearly six times higher than the official Covid death tally of 3.3 lakh,” the Congress communications chief said on social media.

Ramesh added: “From the migrant crisis to the manufactured shortage of vaccines, from the mass deaths and oxygen shortages to the prime minister’s insistence on campaigning in West Bengal rather than prioritising human lives – the cruellest and vilest impulses of the Modi government were on display during the pandemic.”

The total deaths in 2018 and 2019 was 145 lakh. But the number of deaths in the two pandemic years – 2020 and 2021 – was 183 lakh, showed data from the civil registration system, which is the official record of births and deaths registered with the local government bodies. This indicated 37.4 lakh excess deaths.

In contrast, India’s official Covid-19 toll till date is 5.3 lakh. The first death due to the disease was reported in March 2020.

Scroll looked deeper into the state-wise data to understand how Covid-19 mortality varied by state. Our analysis of the state-wise data showed that Gujarat, Bihar and Chhattisgarh were worst hit by the pandemic, even though their official tolls remained low.

Ramesh said on Sunday that Modi’s “home state of Gujarat has achieved the dubious distinction of undercounting deaths on a staggering scale – 33 times more deaths were reported than acknowledged by the Gujarat government”.

“It would be too much to expect this government to show regret or remorse for its tone-deaf actions - but when history is written, it will be sure to record this act of depravity,” the Congress leader added.

Also read: What excess death data shows: Bihar, Gujarat undercounted Covid-19 toll by 30 times