India / We'll do no such thing: Govt on news claiming it'll drop money from helicopters

PIB Fact Check has rubbished news reports claiming the government will drop money from helicopters amid the lockdown and said, "The government will do no such thing". Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao recently advocated the use of 'helicopter money'. Under this policy, a central bank creates money and gives it directly to households or to the government.

Zee News : Apr 16, 2020, 05:52 PM

New Delhi: A message is going viral claiming that the government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town. According to Government of India's Press Information Bureau (PIB), this 'Government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town' claim is WRONG.

PIB Fact Check on its Twitter handle @PIBFactCheck clarified, "Claim: Government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town

#PIBFactCheck: Government is going to do no such thing"

Claim: Government is going to drop money from helicopters in every town#PIBFactCheck: Government is going to do no such thing pic.twitter.com/on7ZNsEXgT
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) April 16, 2020

Recently, a rumour went viral that the money transferred to accounts under PM Garib Kalyan Yojana will be taken back if not withdrawn. This was completely baseless. PIB Fact Check department had issued a clarification on this. PIB said, "This is a baseless rumour. Money will not be taken back from accounts."

Late last month, the government announced a Rs 1.7 lakh crore package aimed at providing relief to those hit hard by the lockdown as well as an insurance cover for healthcare professionals handling virus infected people.

On April 3, the Centre confirmed that it credited the first installment of Rs 500 to over four crore Jan Dhan accounts of poor women on Friday as part of a relief package in view of the lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. The amount is being released by the ministry and will be credited to more than 20.39 crore Jan Dhan accounts of women by the end of April first week, officials said.

Announcing the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana (PMGKY) in view of the ongoing 21-day countrywide lockdown due to the coronavirus outbreak, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said on March 26 that ex-gratia payment of Rs 500 would be credited to women Jan Dhan account holders for the next three months, starting from April.