Fact Check: Gita Press in Gorakhpur is not shutting down
A message claiming that the Gita Press in Gorakhpur is closing down has gone viral on social media in the past few days. Established in 1923, Gita Press has been “propagating and promoting morality and spirituality through its literature”.
By Satya Priya BN Published on 2 Aug 2021 2:24 PM GMT
Hyderabad: A message claiming that the Gita Press in Gorakhpur is closing down has gone viral on social media in the past few days. Established in 1923, Gita Press has been "propagating and promoting morality and spirituality through its literature".
The message reads, "SAD news. Gita Press Gorakhpur is about to close. According to Zee news as Gita Press is not in a position to pay even salaries to their employees, because they sell all Sanatan Dharma books without any profit. if Gita press closes that will be a great loss to Hindu religion. We can't get even a tea less than 10 rs, but you can get Hanuman chalisa for 1 or 2 Rs. published by Gita Press..........!"
It then asks people "really interested in saving Hindu dharma" to forward the message to 20 people to stop Gita Press from being shut down.
This message has been doing the rounds of the Internet since the past few years.
Archive links:
https://web.archive.org/web/
Fact Check:
The claim is false.
NewsMeter searched for information about Gita Press, Gorakhpur, and found that the rumours of the press shutting down have been circulating since 2015.
Gita Press has refuted these claims on its social media accounts. "Some organized vested interest are frequently misguiding people through social media about closure of Gita Press, which is totally false. In the absence of factual information, well-wishers of Gita Press are forwarding those messages in bewilderness to express their sympathy. But the reality is contrary and the works at Gita Press is quite in order and fully satisfactory (sic)," it wrote.
It further added, "About 1800 books in 15 different languages are being published uninterrupted. For better-ment of print quality and print volume, we have imported binding and printing machines of modern technology from foreign countries."
The message goes on to request well-wishers to share the message to end the rumours.
According to a report by Amar Ujala, Lalmani Tiwari, the product manager of Gita Press, said at present the work at the press is going on smoothly. About 1,800 books in 15 languages are being published continuously. To increase the availability and quality of books, printing and binding machines have been procured from abroad, he said.
A Times of India report published in 2020 had refuted the same viral claim. "In 2015, employees demanded an increase in wages and the press was locked for a few days due to their strike. The issue was resolved and the press started running smoothly, but some fraudsters spread fake news of closure on social media and started asking donations," the report quoted press manager Lalmani as saying.
This claim has been debunked by OpIndia too
Hence, the claim that Gita Press in Gorakhpur is closing down is FALSE.
