By Hazel Gandhi
A 2020 video showing Muslim women waiting outside a bank in Uttar Pradesh is viral online as recent and being shared with the misleading claim that the women were waiting to avail their promised sum of Rs 8,500 under the Congress' Mahalaxmi scheme.
BOOM found that the video dates back to 2020 and was taken in Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, where beneficiaries of the Jan Dhan scheme were waiting to withdraw their money.
While campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections in Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi spoke about how, if elected to power, he would introduce schemes for youth employment and financial assistance for women. While talking about the money being deposited in accounts, Gandhi said that in addition to jobs, beneficiaries would receive 1 lakh rupees annually and Rs 8,500 per month "Khata-khat, khata-khat, khata-khat", meaning instantly in Hindi. A similar scheme for women, the Mahalaxmi scheme, was also promoted by Sonia Gandhi with the same benefits for women.
Now that the Congress' ally, the Samajwadi Party, have secured a majority in Uttar Pradesh, users on social media are sharing the video of the women lining up outside banks and connecting it to these promises made by the Congress' top leadership. A caption on X reads, "Family members of Akbar, Babar and Aurangzeb in queue for getting ₹8500/month under Rahul Gandhi's 'Khatakhat Scheme'"
Click here to view the post and here for an archive.
The video is also being circulated on Facebook with a similar caption.
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FACT CHECK
BOOM found that the video is from 2020 in Uttar Pradesh when female beneficiaries of the central government's Jan Dhan scheme lined up outside banks in Muzaffarnagar.
We had previously debunked this video in May 2021 when it was being circulated with the false communal claim that Muslim women were waiting to hoard free ration distributed by the government.
We looked closely at the viral video from 2021 shared by Sudarshan News' editor, Suresh Chavhanke, and found a bike parked outside the bank with a UP license plate and a banner reading 'Guru Gobind Singh Public School'.
Taking a cue from this, we ran a search in Hindi using 'मुज़्ज़फरनगर बैंक के बाहर मुस्लिम महिलाओ का भीड़' and found a report published by News18 on April 20, 2020 titled 'Video of crowd outside Muzaffarnagar bank viral, rumours of money being removed from account viral'
(Original text in Hindi: 'Muzaffarnagar में बैंक के बाहर भीड़ का वीडियो वायरल, खातों में पैसे वापस जाने की अफवाह')
This report carried a video of some beneficiaries lining up outside a bank that was an exact match to the viral video.
According to the report, beneficiaries of the Jan Dhan scheme fell for a rumour that if they did not withdraw the Rs 500 deposited in their account, they would be taken back by the bank. This is why they formed a queue outside the bank to withdraw their money. However, bank officials assured the account holders that their money would not be taken back and would remain in their accounts.
In 2020, the central government announced that Jan Dhan account holders would receive Rs 500 in their accounts for three months following the challenges faced by many during the Covid-19 period.
A similar video report was shared on YouTube around the same time by local news outlet RB News in 2020. See here.
While the viral video is not recent, several reports published by ABP News and India Today on June 5, 2024, stated how female voters in Lucknow formed queues outside the Congress office to avail the Rs 8,500 promised under the Mahalaxmi scheme.
