Is Centre Giving ₹4,000 to All Citizens Under COVID scheme? Truth Behind Viral Message

A WhatsApp message claiming that the government is giving ₹4,000 to everyone under a Covid relief scheme is false and there is no such financial assistance being extended, the Press Information Bureau has tweeted.

“It is being claimed in a WhatsApp message that the Indian government is, under a Corona Care Fund Scheme, giving a sum of ₹4,000 to everyone. This is a false claim. The government is running no such scheme,” PIB’s Fact Check handle said in a tweet in Hindi.

The tweet comes as Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on June 28 announced eight new schemes, including a ₹1.1 lakh crore loan guarantee scheme for the Covid-affected and an additional ₹1.5 lakh crore under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme launched as part of the Aatmanirbhar Bharat package last year.

The government has announced a slew of measures amid the economic distress during the coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions put in place to curb the rising cases of Covid-19 across the country. Before this, PIB Fact Check rejected claims that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced a nationwide lockdown from July 1 till July 31 and also declared the “beginning of the third wave” of the pandemic.

PIB Fact Check clarified that no such announcement was made by PM Modi and asked citizens to be wary of such viral posts. “The Prime Minister has not made any such announcement. Kindly be wary of such misleading messages. The said claim is fake,” PIB Fact Check tweeted.