India's official Covid-19 death count by the end of June 2021 was 4,00,000. A report prepared by the Centre for Global Development, says that true deaths are likely to be in the several millions not hundreds of thousands, making this arguably India's worst human tragedy since Partition and Independence.
The report said that estimating Covid-deaths with statistical confidence may prove elusive, but all estimates suggest that the death toll from the pandemic is likely to be greater than the official count of 400,000.
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Excess deaths are additional deaths recorded during a pandemic, as compared to a corresponding period in pre-pandemic years, and could be a potential indicator of undercounting in India's Covid toll.
The report has been prepared by the Washington-based think tank Center for Global Development and is co-authored by India's former Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian. It is based on serosurveys, household data and official data and points towards a significant under-reporting of deaths in the country.
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