"Pointless To Debate Data Fudging Amid Covid Crisis": ML Khattar

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said the focus in these difficult times must be on helping people battle the disease.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar today dubbed "pointless" allegations that his government was tinkering with the data on Covid-related deaths in his state to suppress the overall figures. He said the focus in these difficult times must be on helping people battle the disease. "The kind of situation we are in, we don't want to tinker with data," Mr Khattar told reporters yesterday in Hisar. He had gone there as part of a visit to check the condition of the health facilities there. Referring to the five deaths in the district on Monday allegedly due to a shortage of oxygen, he said the limitations of the available infrastructure must be taken into consideration. Five COVID-19 patients died in a private hospital with the hospital authorities attributing the deaths to the shortage of liquid oxygen. The administration denied this and ordered a magisterial probe.