New Delhi: Several million Covid-19 deaths have most likely gone unreported in India, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report released on Thursday which said that over 4.7 million people in India - nearly 10 times higher than official records - are thought to have died because of the virus.

The Government of India has rejected the report while strongly objecting to the use of certain mathematical models for projecting excess mortality estimates in view of the availability of authentic data. "Despite India’s objection to the process, methodology and outcome of this modelling exercise, WHO has released the excess mortality estimates without adequately addressing India’s concerns," read a statement.

India had also underlined the fact that given the accuracy of the Mortality Data collected through an effective and robust statutory system, India doesn’t deserve to be placed in Tier II countries. WHO till date has not responded to India’s contention.

India has also consistently questioned WHO’s own admission that data in respect of 17 Indian states was obtained from some websites and media reports and was used in their mathematical model. "This reflects a statistically unsound and scientifically questionable methodology of data collection for making excess mortality projections in case of India".

Throughout the process of dialogue, engagement and communication with the WHO, the agency has projected different excess mortality figures for India citing multiple models, which itself raises questions on the validity and robustness of the models used, read the statement.