Congress accuses Rajasthan govt of suppressing heatstroke death toll

PTI, May 31, 2024, 3:24 PM IST

The Congress on Friday accused the BJP-led government of suppressing the number of deaths caused by the intense heat battering Rajasthan while claiming that more than 100 people have died of heat stroke in the state.

The Congress’ Rajasthan unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra alleged that the authorities are hiding the actual number under pressure from the state government to avoid paying compensation.

The Rajasthan government on Thursday announced that five people had died from heat stroke and added that reports about a higher toll being circulated in the media were ”beyond facts”.

Director (Public Health) Dr Ravi Prakash Mathur said, ”Death Audit Committee investigates suspicious deaths due to heat stroke, as per the parameters set by the Government of India. According to these parameters, if any death is found to be due to heat stroke, it is certified and its report is sent to the Integrate Health Information (IHIP) portal. Only the figures released on the IHIP portal are authentic.” The official announcement came hours after Rajasthan High Court directed the state government to provide compensation to the kin of those who died of heat stroke while also expressing concern over the situation.

Dotasra on Friday claimed that ”more than 100 deaths have occurred” in the state.

The BJP government, which has completely failed in managing the heatwave situation, is now committing the sin of hiding the death toll ”to avoid paying compensation”, he alleged.

”There is shocking information from SMS (Sawai Man Singh) Hospital in Jaipur where the bodies of about 40 unidentified people are lying in the mortuary after their deaths due to the heat wave. Every day, about 20-25 bodies of unidentified people are coming to the mortuary but, to avoid paying compensation, the bodies are being disposed of within three days by citing a different cause for the deaths,” he claimed.

The process of identifying the bodies, informing the families and publishing the information in newspapers takes about seven days, after which the bodies are disposed of, the Congress leader said.

”These figures are only of SMS Hospital. The situation in the entire state is horrific and worrying. The government is saying that only five people died due to the heat wave while the truth is that the number of deaths due to the scorching heat in the state is very scary,” he added.