Hardihapurva (Sitapur), Uttar Pradesh

Last week on August 9, a certificate was issued to 68-year-old Angnu saying he had been administered the COVID19 vaccine. A similar certificate was also issued to his wife. The only problem with these certificates, issued by the health department, was that Angnu died last year on May 27, while his wife, Ramdei, passed away four months ago. They were inhabitants of  Hardihapurva village, Rampurmathura block about 120 kms away from the district headquarters in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh.

“We have no idea how this happened. My father passed away a year ago and my mother four months ago,” Balak Ram, the 40-year-old son of Angnu, told Gaon Connection. “We learnt of this from fellow villagers. No one else in the family has been vaccinated so far,” he added.

“The death certificate for Angnu was issued on June 15, 2020, and his wife passed away during the panchayat elections in the state,” Manju Tiwari, former gram paradhan of Gadhchapa gram panchayat under which Hardihapurva village falls, told Gaon Connection.

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The Sitapur district Chief Medical Officer Madhu Gaurela said the Aadhaar cards of the deceased had been misused and an enquiry into the matter was being instituted. She also said the health department was not to blame for this.

The dead get vaccinated amid ‘shortage’ of vaccines

While on one hand people are being turned away from primary health centres because of ‘shortage’ of vaccines, vaccination certificates in the name of dead people have been issued in Sitapur saying they have been successfully vaccinated. This has raised several concerns.

Earlier this month on August 2, Gaon Connection’s ground report revealed how villagers were queuing up to get vaccinated in anticipation of the third wave of the COVID19 pandemic. Awareness drives by the governments, non profits, and others have encouraged people to step forward to get inoculated. A lot of them had to make several visits because invariably the vaccines ran out or were in short supply.

Also Read: With vaccine hesitancy cast aside, rural residents of Unnao and Barabanki in UP throng vaccination centres but return empty handed

Local authorities acknowledged that the number of people turning up to be vaccinated far outnumbered the number of doses of the vaccine they had received.

‘Misuse of Aadhaar’

The chief medical officer Gaurela addressed the media on August 12. She stated that perhaps the Aadhaar card of the dead people were misappropriated by someone else and they were vaccinated. “It is not possible to verify details from the Aadhaar card and it is not carelessness on the part of the health department. We are trying to investigate the matter and once we find the offender we shall take suitable action,” she said at the press meeting.

Gaurela added that it was no secret that there was a shortage of vaccines at the time and there was no reason why data would be fudged, as claimed by the media.

On being contacted by Gaon Connection, the chief medical officer said: “The enquiry is on and we still do not know who took the vaccine based on the Aadhaar card. We will submit a report as soon as we find out.” She added that the administration will also have to find out what else the Aadhaar cards have been misused for.

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“I informed every authority, right from the block level to the district level that my father had died. Yet, there is still a ration card in my father’s name,” Balak Ram said. “We are not educated and have no idea how this is happening,” he added.

When Gaon Connection contacted Lavkesh Gupta, the licensed ration shop owner at the Gadhchapa gram panchayat, he said: “The rations for Hardihapurva goes from my shop. I have to check if Angnu’s name is still on the ration card holders list. But we only distribute rations to those whose names have been sent to us from the supply department.”

Also Read: At deserted COVID vaccination camps, hapless ASHAs fail to convince hesitant villagers to get the jab

While an enquiry is on to find out who the dead could be vaccinated against the COVID19, Angnu’s surviving family members await their turn for vaccination. They are only one of many in the country who have not been vaccinated yet.

So far 544 million people in India have been vaccinated of which 121 million have received both their doses of the COVID19 vaccine. 

Read the story in Hindi.

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