Fact Check: Old video of Muslim women at Muzaffarnagar bank linked to Congress' promises of financial aid

Hyderabad: As per the Congress manifesto for the recently concluded 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the party promised an ‘unconditional cash transfer’ of Rs 1 lakh annually into the accounts of women from poor families under the Mahalakshmi scheme. “The poor will be identified among the families in the bottom of the income pyramid,” the manifesto said.

Following this, a video has gone viral with the claim that it shows people standing in line to open bank accounts to receive Rs 8,500, as part of the implementation of Congress poll promises.

A Facebook user shared the video with the caption, “Look at the line for this ‘khata-khat’? Don’t you even have a little shame? Then take a note of this. Don’t you think this is a ‘fraud’? In the scorching heat, poor people are standing in line to open their accounts and get Rs 8,500? (translated from Hindi)” (Archive)

People are using the tag ‘Khata Khat’, which means ‘in no time’, while sharing the video, as a reference to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi mentioning it in several of his poll campaign speeches ‘to describe the swift implementation of party’s promises and schemes.’

Similar posts can be seen here and here. (Archive) (Archive)

Fact Check

NewsMeter found that the claim is false as the video is from 2020.

A reverse image search of the video’s keyframe led us to a video published on the News 18 YouTube channel, dated April 20, 2020. The video was titled ‘Video of a crowd outside a bank in Muzaffarnagar goes viral; rumour of money being returned from accounts.’

According to the 5:14 minutes long news report ‘In Muzaffarnagar (Uttar Pradesh), people gathered at a bank due to a rumour that funds were being withdrawn from their accounts. This prompted many to visit their local Bank of Baroda branch for clarification. Upon arrival, bank employees urged customers to adhere to social distancing measures. They reassured everyone that their money, specifically the Rs 500 deposited into their Jan Dhan accounts, was secure and would not be retracted.’

In the video, a person can be seen speaking to the media saying, we all gathered here upon hearing the news that Modiji transferred Rs 500 to bank accounts but it will be withdrawn soon.

Upon further investigation, we found that the video had previously been in circulation with a false claim that it showed Muslim women waiting to collect free rations distributed by the government. It was also found on YouTube with the title ‘Line of Muslim Women in Front of Bank in Muzaffarnagar, UP’ dated April 18, 2020.

What is Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY)?

The Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) is a National Mission for Financial Inclusion designed to provide access to financial services, including basic savings and deposit accounts, remittance, credit, insurance, and pensions, in an affordable way.

The Print on April 3, 2020, quoting the Rural Development Ministry stated that the Centre credited the first instalment of Rs 500 to over four crore Jan Dhan accounts of poor women as part of a relief package in response to the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown.

Hence, we conclude that the claim is false and is unrelated to the Mahalakshmi scheme of the Congress party.