Ramaswami: A substantial lifting of the lockdown, even with a ban on huge gatherings, weddings, cinema halls, theatres and restaurants, could lead to upto two million deaths in India says Jayaprakash Muliyil, the former principal of the Christian Medical College in Vellore and present Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the National Institute of Epidemiology. However the alternative is to subject hundreds of millions of poor vulnerable Indians to destitution and starvation and, as a result, possible death. He also said that a prolonged lockdown means children are not getting vaccines for diseases like diphtheria and whooping cough, which can also be killer diseases. In an interview to Karan Thapar for The Wire, professor Muliyil said he had done certain calculations which suggest that a substantial lifting of the lockdown could lead to 7.5 lakh deaths in the age group over 60 in urban Indian.