New Delhi, Apr 9 (IANS): On Thursday when India's coronavirus case count was at 5,734, CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury criticised the government over less Covid-19 tests.

Citing data presented by Steve H. Hanke of the Johns Hopkins University, Yechury said India was testing less cases per million, which was even lower than Pakistan.

"Third week into the lockdown, it's utmost important that we test more than we were doing at the beginning of the lockdown. But that doesn't seem to be the case. We are testing at even lower rates than Pakistan. The purpose of lockdown is defeated without more testing," Yechury said.

According to data, India is testing 102 people per million, Pakistan 191 per million, the USA 6,336 per million. Hong Kong has fared the best by testing 12,900 per million.

Yechury also criticised lack of PPEs and ventilators and said it was creating hindrance in India's war on Covid-19. "The Modi government has failed to provide answers, hiding behind distractions, fudging data," he said.

However, the central and the state governments have ramped up testing facilities. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday said it was considering to scale up testing capacity to 100,000 a day.

But with crucial time running out, the opposition is now running out of patience.