Release correct data on Covid deaths, give ₹4 lakh as compensation: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked the government to release correct figures of Covid-related deaths and provide ₹4 lakh as compensation to the families who lost their loved ones to the pandemic

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday asked the government to release correct figures of Covid-related deaths and provide ₹4 lakh compensation to the families, who lost their loved ones to the pandemic. He tweeted saying if there is a government, the suffering of people should be removed and compensation should be given.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has asked the Centre to release correct figures of Covid-19 deaths and give ₹4 lakh as compensation to each of the families that lost their loved ones to the coronavirus pandemic. (HT file photo/ Arvind Yadav)

Gandhi also tweeted a video attacking the “Gujarat model”, which the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has projected as the benchmark for other states. “When you had to help them in hospitals, you were not there, and when they lost ₹10-15 lakh in hospitals and also their family members, you were still not there to provide compensation. What type of government is this?” he asked.

BJP spokesman Tom Vadakkan said the government has done everything possible for Covid-19 patients. “...whether state or central initiatives, compensations have been announced. The Centre has done more than any other government could have possibly imagined,” Vadakkan said. “Now that Congress’s farmers protest narrative is over, he (Gandhi) is trying to create more narratives such as this to help him attract his target audience.”

The Centre in September announced ₹50,000 compensation for the kin of those who died from Covid-19. Congress at that time demanded that ₹5 lakh should be given and called the ₹50,000 compensation a joke.