Delhi's Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. ( AFP / MONEY SHARMA)

Doctored advert does not show 'Delhi chief minister asking citizens to donate coal' following shortage

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 22, 2021 at 13:46
2 min read
By Anuradha PRASAD, AFP India

An image of a full-page newspaper advert has been shared repeatedly online purporting to show Delhi’s chief minister urgently asking people to donate coal as India faces an energy crisis. The social media posts circulated following shortages that have led to power outages in several Indian states. The claim is false: the image has been doctored from an advert published by the Hindi media outlet Hindustan. The original image shows an advert offering financial assistance to families whose loved ones died after contracting Covid-19.

The image was shared here on Facebook on October 12, 2021.

It appears to show a full-page newspaper advertisement.

The Hindi-language text translates to English as: “Help the Delhi government amid the power shortage by donating coal."

“Your one tub of coal can help keep away the darkness in the whole state.”

It appears to show a bowl filled with coal, as well as an image of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal:

Screenshot of the misleading post taken on October 15, 2021

Several Indian states including the capital Delhi have faced power outages in October 2021 due to coal shortages in power plants.

The same image has been shared here, here and here on Facebook; and here and here on Twitter.

The image, however, has been doctored.

A keyword search on Google found an article published on July 23, 2021 on the website for Indian magazine Forward Press.

The report is about Indian sanitation workers who died after contracting Covid-19.

The article's headline reads: “The plight of the families of sanitation workers who succumbed to Covid-19.”

The article includes the original image of the newspaper advert dated July 9, 2021:

Screenshot of the ad posted on the website of magazine Forward Press taken on October 18, 2021

The original advert reads: “Delhi government is with the families of those who lost their loved ones to Covid."

Arvind Kejriwal launched a financial assistance scheme to help the families of those who died of Covid-19.

The scheme was reported here on July 6, 2021 by The Hindustan Times.

The e-paper version of the same advert was published on the newspaper's website.

Below is a comparison of the altered image in the misleading posts (L) and the original advert (R):

A comparison of the altered image in the misleading posts (L) and original image of the advert published in Hindustan dated July 9, 2021 (R)

The same advert was also published in English, Gujarati, and Punjabi.

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