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Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi exchanged seats based on the SPG guard’s advice - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 14, 2023
A video in which former Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh can be seen vacating a seat for Sonia Gandhi on the advice of a security personnel  is being widely shared. The video is being shared claiming that during the Congress regime, the PM was humiliated by asking him to vacate the seat for Sonia Gandhi. Through this article, let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh being humiliated. He was asked to vacate his seat for Sonia Gandhi.
Fact: As per news reports, when Manmohan Singh mistakenly took the seat assigned to Sonia Gandhi, respective SPG guards informed both Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh about the mix-up, who then swapped their seats. This was a UPA meeting and both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi were provided with SPG protection, they acted upon the SPG guards advice. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
The viral visuals show an incident that took place during a UPA meeting in December 2011. A keyword search on YouTube yielded us news report which reported the same visuals. The title of the report reads ‘Kissa Kursi Ka: PM, Sonia Exchange Seats at UPA Meeting’.
As per the report, ‘Manmohan Singh had mistakenly sat in a seat assigned to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. Realizing this, SPG guard assigned to Manmohan Singh discussed the issue with the guard assigned to Sonia Gandhi, and they first brought the issue to Mrs. Gandhi’s notice, who then stood up. Later the guards informed Manmohan Singh about the issue, who then vacated the seat and sat in his actual seat.’
Further search yielded another news report which carried the same visuals. As per this report, the visuals are from a meeting held at the Prime Minister’s residence to build consensus among UPA allies with respect to the upcoming High-level meeting on the Lokpal bill.
Even in this news report, it is clearly visible that both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi swapped their seats upon the advice of the SPG guards.
As both former PM Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi were under SPG security, most likely they swapped their seats based on the inputs by SPG guards, as there are instances wherein SPG is very particular about seating arrangements of the dignitaries as per their SoP.
To sum it up, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi exchanged seats based on the SPG guard’s advice.


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Manmohan Singh did not Tweet this about Congress; he has no official Twitter account - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
November 15, 2021
A post is being widely shared on social media claiming that former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had tweeted that Congress did not allow him to take his own decisions. The photo of the purported tweet is being shared through the post. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Manmohan Singh tweeted that Congress did not allow him to take his own decisions.
Fact: The twitter account ‘@manmohan_5’ seen in the image is not the official account of Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India. Manmohan Singh does not hold an official account on twitter. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image in the post is seen clearly, one can see that the account ‘@manmohan_5’ is not the official account of Manmohan Singh, the former Prime Minister of India. In fact, when one tries to open that handle, it is shown that the ‘account doesn’t exist’.
Earlier, when a few similar tweets were falsely attributed to Manmohan Singh, Saral Patel, National Convener of Congress Social Media Department tweeted that both Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi do not hold an account on Twitter, and when they decide to come on Twitter, they will have a verified Twitter account. He urged people to not follow fake accounts.
Tired of people asking, If this account is authentic or not. This is not the first time and won't be the last, so making it clear for once and all.
If Sonia Ji or MMS Ji decides to come on Twitter, They will have a VERIFED twitter account.
So please don't follow fake accounts. https://t.co/O7vwVrYaxX
FACTLY had earlier debunked similar posts about a tweet on PM Modi that was attributed to Manmohan Singh. The article can be read here.
To sum it up, Manmohan Singh had not tweeted that Congress did not allow him to take his own decisions; he has no official Twitter account.

source: news-factly

created: November 15, 2021

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Sai Krishna Muthyanolla


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Manmohan Singh Spent 699 crores in 10 years while Vajpayee spent 144 crores in 5 years on Foreign Visits
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
July 20, 2015
Foreign Visits by the Prime Minister has been a subject of discussion especially after the Narendra Modi led BJP Government came to power. Amidst this, the information disclosed by the Prime Minister’s office reveals that the expenses incurred on foreign visits of former Prime Ministers A B Vajpayee was more than Rs 144 crore (in 5 years) while that of Manmohan Singh was more than Rs 699 crore (in 10 years)
Foreign Visits by the Prime Minister has been a subject of discussion especially after the Narendra Modi led BJP Government came to power. But little information was forthcoming about the expenses incurred on such visits. In a welcome move, the Union Government has now put in the public domain, the expensed incurred on foreign visits by former Prime Ministers Manmohan Singh & A B Vajpayee. It must be also be noted that this is not a new initiative. In 2012, the UPA government had asked all the ministries to proactively disclose the details of official tours of Ministers & high ranking officials.
Based on the information available on the PM’s website, more than 699 crore rupees were spent in 10 years on chartered flights for Manmohan Singh’s foreign visits, while more than 144 crore rupees were spent in 5 years on chartered flights for A B Vajpayee’s foreign visits. Details of expenses incurred on 5 visits undertaken by Manmohan Singh from September 2013 are still being processed and are not available. Expenses incurred on Narendra Modi’s foreign visits are still not available except for his Bhutan visit in June 2014. An amount of 2.45 crore rupees were spent on his Bhutan visit.
How many countries did Manmohan Singh & A B Vajpayee Visit?
Mr. A B Vajpayee spent a total of 131 days in foreign visits and visited 31 countries in his 5 year term while Mr. Manmohan Singh spent 144 days in foreign visits and visited 35 countries during his first term. In his second term, he spent 161 days in foreign visits and visited 38 countries. Both Vajpayee & Manmohan Singh spent maximum time visiting Asia followed by North America. Vajpayee spent 38% of the time visiting Asia while Manmohan Singh also spent about 39% time visiting Asia during his first term. In his second term, Manmohan Singh spent half the time visiting Asian Countries.
Amount Spent on Foreign Visits
The expenses on foreign visits of the Prime Minister are met out of the budget head “Cabinet Ministers – Foreign Travel Expenses” (Demand No. 54). The expenses incurred are on chartered flights for these foreign visits.
The total amount during Vajpayee’s term on foreign visits was Rs 144.43 crore. On the other hand, Manmohan Singh’s foreign visits costed a total of Rs 301.95 crore in his first term and Rs 397.35 crore in his second term. Though the number of countries visited and the number of days spent in foreign visits was not very different, the expenses incurred during Manmohan Singh’s first term were more than twice the expenses incurred during Vajpayee’s term as the Prime Minister between 1999 and 2004.
Average Amount spent per day of Visit & per Country
During Vajpayee’s term, an average of Rs 1.1 crore was spent per day of foreign visit while Rs 4.7 crore was spent per country of visit. These amounts doubled during Manmohan Singh’s first term with Rs 2.1 crore spent per day of visit and Rs 8.6 crore spent per country of visit. During Manmohan Singh’s second term, Rs 2.9 crore was spent per day of visit and Rs 12.8 crore was spent per country of visit.
Most Expensive & Least Expensive Visit


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Manmohan Singh was not the PM during this meet with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 30, 2020
Photo of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is being shared widely on social media claiming that the photo was captured when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister of India. In the photo, Sonia Gandhi can be seen seated in a prominent seat while Manmohan Singh was sitting beside her at a distance along with Rahul Gandhi. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Sonia Gandhi seated in the prominent seat in a bilateral meeting when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.
Fact: The photo was taken in 2017 when the then Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe visited India. Manmohan Singh served as the Prime Minister of India between 2004 – 2014. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the photo was subjected to reverse image search, many search results had the same picture. As per PTI, the photo was taken in 2017 and it has the following description – ‘Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in a meeting with Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi on Thursday. Former PM Manmohan Singh and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi are also seen’.
The same photo can also be seen in the tweet of ‘ANI’ that reported about Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s visit to India in 2017.
#Delhi: Congress' Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, Anand Sharma met Sri Lankan prime minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, today pic.twitter.com/ItoQy4HLV6
Manmohan Singh was the 13th Prime Minister of India from and he served during the period 2004 – 2014. So, the photo was taken after the tenure of Manmohan Singh as the Prime Minister of India.
To sum it up, photo of Sonia Gandhi seated in a prominent seat during a meet with Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe in 2017 shared as the one captured when Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister.
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Manmohan’s comments on electrification increasing the risk of deaths were posted by a parody account. - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 13, 2019
A post with an image of Former PM Manmohan Singh and his comments on the electrification of Indian villages is being widely shared on Facebook. Let’s try to analyze the claim made in the post.
Manmohan Singh: “By Electrifying every Indian Village, Modi Government has increased the risk of deaths due to electrocution. Villagers have never seen electricity & also don’t know how to use them, if any mishaps happen, who will be responsible?”
Fact: Manmohan Singh did not make those comments. The comments were posted on a parody account ‘Times How’. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the image in the post is run through Google Reverse Image Search, it can be found that it was originally posted by the ‘Times How’ Twitter account. It is a parody Twitter account (with the name similar to ‘Times Now’ news channel) which has been suspended now by the Twitter. As the account is deleted, the original tweet cannot be found but the same parody news can be found on its Facebook page. The ‘About’ section of the page describes the posts as “News Delivered Straight from Source. No Manipulation. Satire. Parody.” So, the news posted by this page should not be taken seriously.
Finally, Manmohan’s comments on electrification increasing the risk of deaths were posted by a parody account.


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Manual scavenging in India: 86% of all the Manual Scavengers in the country are in Uttar Pradesh
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 10, 2015
Government data indicates that the inhuman profession of Manual Scavenging still exists in the country and that there are more than 11000 such manual scavengers in the country. 86% of them are in Uttar Pradesh alone. There are 11 states which have manual scavengers even today. Despite the parliament enacting a legislation to prohibit manual scavenging, it goes on and the funds allocated for rehabilitation are hardly spent.
Not many of us clean our own toilets. The stench of toilets in public places puts us off. But there is another side to all of this. India still has people who are in the profession of Manual Scavenging. It’s a national shame, but it is also a fact that there are still a few thousand people engaged in the same.
The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment defines a scavenger as the one who is partially or wholly engaged in the obnoxious and inhuman occupation of manually removing night soil and filth. The dependent of Scavengers is one who is a member of their family or is dependent of them irrespective of the fact whether they are partially or wholly engaged in the said occupation. The definition doesn’t necessarily capture the horrific nature of this work.
To explain in simple terms, manual scavenging refers to the removal of human waste/excreta (night soil) from unsanitary, dry toilets (toilets without the modern flush system). Manual scavenging involves the removal of human excreta using bare hands, brooms and tin plates.
The reality is much more inhuman and beyond imagination. The people who are involved in cleaning the dry latrines do so with their bare hands and usually carry the human excreta on their head to dispose in far off places. They are further ostracized, subjected to gross discrimination and have to go through everyday humiliation in society. Due to the nature of the work, they are also exposed to various health hazards. What is even more despicable is that this work is forced upon the future generations.
Dry Latrines
The presence of dry latrines is one of the primary reasons why manual scavenging exists till date despite being banned under the constitution via various legislations.  As per the 2011 census data, latrines from which night soil is manually removed exist in all states except for the states of Goa, Sikkim and the UTs of Chandigarh and Lakshadweep. There are a total of 7,94,390 dry latrines in the country with Uttar Pradesh having as high as 3,26,082 and Andaman islands as low as 11.
Uttar Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir & West Bengal together account for 80% of all the dry latrines in the country. Nine states have more than 10000 dry latrines each and Ten States/UTs have less than 1000 dry latrines each.
Not all states have Manual Scavengers. As per the latest data available with the Government, there are a total of 11,635 manual scavengers across the country. Leading the pack is Uttar Pradesh with 10016 manual scavengers. This is a whopping 86% of all manual scavengers in the country. There are 11 states where there are manual scavengers even today. These states are from all the parts of the country.
Current laws on Manual Scavenging
The current laws had not proved adequate in eliminating the twin evils of insanitary latrines and manual scavenging. The Parliament has enacted the ‘Prohibition of Employment as Manual Scavengers and their Rehabilitation Act 2013’. The law has come into force on Dec 6th 2013 in whole of country, except Jammu & Kashmir. The act intends to
The act also has provisions for the following measures for the rehabilitation of the identified manual scavengers
In addition to this, Central Sector Self Employment Scheme for Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers is being implemented for rehabilitation of manual scavengers through the National Safai Karamcharis Finance and Development Corporation. Under this scheme, the fund allocated and utilized during the last three years is represented in the below chart.
The tragedy is that the government is unable to spend the meager amounts allocated for the rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers. In 2014-15, 448 crore rupees was allocated and not a single rupee has been spent till the end of July 2014. But can the rehabilitation programs really make an impact? The problem of manual scavenging is very deep rooted in the society. Once someone gets branded as a scavenger, the tag remains forever. Everyone in the neighborhood knows about their past and switching to a different line of work doesn’t necessarily help in making them more acceptable to the society. Along with these programs, there is a great need for sensitization and awareness to end this menace once and for all.
Sources
Featured Image Source: By Dalit Network (http://www.dalits.nl/manualscavenging.html) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons


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Manufacturing process of plastic granules is shared as visuals of plastic rice production - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 3, 2021
A video is being shared on social media claiming it as visuals of plastic rice production in a rice mill. This video shows a machine converting plastic sheets into tiny plastic pellets in the shape of grains. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Video showing plastic rice production in a rice mill.
Fact: The video shared in the post shows the plastic granulation process in a Korea-based company. Several plastic manufacturing companies produce the re-cycled tiny plastic granules which can be used to cushion fragile objects during storage and transportation. This video does not show the production of plastic rice. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
On reverse image search of the screenshots in the video, a similar photo was found in an article published by the Chinese news website ‘Xinhuanet.com’. This video with the attached news of plastic rice is reportedly circulating on social media since 2011. ‘Xinhuanet.com’  reported it as visuals of the plastic granulation process in a plastic manufacturing company. According to the details provided in the article, several plastic manufacturing companies produce these re-cycled plastic pellets using plastic pelletizer machines. These semi-finished raw plastic granules are generally used to cushion fragile objects during storage and transportation. A similar video showing the production of plastic granules in a plastic manufacturing company can be seen here.
Also, when we observed a clearer version of this video shared by another social media user, we could see a plastic granule bag with the name ‘EVA’ written over it. Ethylene Vinyl Acetate (EVA) is one of the plastic granule products manufactured by plastic industries. A similar bag was found on different e-commerce websites. They can be seen here and here. On this bag, we could see the ‘Hanwha Total Petrochemical Company Limited’ logo. The Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. Ltd is a South Korea based chemical company. The details of the EVA plastic granule production in the Hanwha Total Petrochemical Co. Ltd can be seen here.
In 2016, Nigeria Customs officers seized 102 rice bags of 25 kg, alleging that they are filled with “plastic rice”. Later, the Nigerian Government had officially announced that the seized rice bags do not contain plastic rice in them. Several news websites have reported the concept of ‘Plastic rice’ as a myth. They can be seen here and here. From all these pieces of evidence, it can be concluded that the video shared in the post shows the manufacturing process of plastic granules, not plastic rice.
Even the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) ruled out plastic rice in its myth busters section.
To sum it up, the video showing the manufacturing process of plastic granules is shared as visuals of plastic rice production in a rice mill.

created: December 3, 2021


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Many businessmen also attended the Bengal Global Business Summit - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 4, 2022
A video through a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that only TMC workers were present at the recently concluded Bengal Global Business Summit, enjoying 5-star meals. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Only TMC workers were present at the Bengal Global Business Summit, enjoying 5-star meals.
Fact: Gautam Adani, TCG Group Head Purnendu Chatterjee, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal were present and spoke at the recent Bengal Global Business Summit. Many other businessmen like ITC Ltd Chairman & Managing Director Sanjiv Puri, RPSG Group chairperson Sanjib Goenka and Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group also attended the summit. BJP had criticised the summit, saying that expensive food was being served to political leaders. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched online about the global summit in Bengal, several articles were found about the recent Bengal Global Business Summit. Many industrialists attended the event held on 20 and 21 April 2022.
Gautam Adani, the chairman of Adani Group attended the summit and promised 10,000 crores investment in Bengal over the next 10 years. Head of TCG group Veteran Bengali Businessman Purnendu Chatterjee, JSW Group Chairman Sajjan Jindal, and several others were present and spoke during the summit’s inaugural session.
137 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) were signed, and West Bengal had received proposals of more than 3.4 lakh crores for investment. “ITC Ltd Chairman & Managing Director Sanjiv Puri, RPSG Group chairperson Sanjib Goenka and Niranjan Hiranandani, co-founder and managing director of Hiranandani Group, among others, spoke during the inaugural session of the summit and promised investment in Bengal.”
In this business summit, plenary sessions and sectoral sessions were held, apart from providing digital space for exhibitions and business networking. Businessmen and Diplomats from different countries also attended the summit. Many stalls introducing products like gaming, IT & ITES products were also showcased at the summit.
The opposition questioned the government about the status of projects announced at previous editions of the Bengal Global Business Summit. This 2022 Summit is the sixth edition; these summits were previously held from 2015 to 2019. BJP had also criticised the summit, saying that expensive food is being served and that it was a political conference.
To sum it up, many businessmen also attended the Bengal Global Business Summit.


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Many edited visuals are being shared on social media in the name of different gods and goddesses - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 30, 2022
Update (07 JULY 2022):
A photo through a post is being widely shared on social media claiming that it shows a hill in the shape of Sai Baba. Let us fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo shows a hill in the shape of Sai Baba.
Fact: The photo had been edited. In the original photo, it can be seen that the hill is not in the shape of Sai Baba. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When a reverse image search is done on the photo, the same photo was found on a website. According to the pixels.com website, the photo is a piece of digital artwork by Anil Samotiya uploaded on 19 January 2018.
The original photo of the hill is an island near the Ao Phang Nga National Park in Phang Nga Province, Thailand. There is no image of Sai Baba in the original photo. Clearly, the original one was edited to include the image of Sai Baba in the viral post.
Published (30 JUNE 2022):
A post is being shared on social media with a claim that it shows an apple with a Hindu goddess on it. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Photo shows an apple with a Hindu goddess on it.
Fact: It is an edited photo. In the original photo, there is no Hindu goddess on the apple. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the photo was run through Google Reverse Image Search, many similar photos of an apple were found in the search results. However, in those photos, there is no Hindu goddess on the apple. Some of those results can be seen here, here, and here.
The goddess on the apple in the posted photo can be found here. So, two different images have been used to create the edited photo in the post.
This is not the first time that such edited visuals have been shared on social media in the name of gods and goddesses. Previously, when such edited visuals were shared on social media, FACTLY debunked some of them. The related fact-check articles can be read here, here, and here.
To sum it up, many edited visuals are being shared on social media in the name of different gods and goddesses.


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Indian Nationals in Foreign Jails
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 6, 2016
According to the latest available information with the MEA, more than 6800 Indian Nationals are lodged in foreign jails. More than half of them are lodged in jails of the Middle East nations. Indian nationals are in jails of 72 different nations.
As per the latest available information with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), more than 6800 Indian nationals are lodged in foreign jails. More than half of them are lodged in jails of the Middle East nations. These include defence personnel, fishermen and other Indian citizens.
A quarter of them are languishing in Saudi Arabian Jails
Out of the all the Indian nationals in foreign jails, more than half of them are lodged in jails of the Middle East nations. 1696 Indians are in jails of Saudi Arabia followed by 1143 in jails of the United Arab Emirates. Nepal is third with 859 Indians in its jails. Kuwait has 434 Indians in its jails. Malaysia has 356, United Kingdom has 356, Pakistan has 230 and USA has 188. All in all, Indians are lodged in jails of 72 different countries. More than 100 Indians are lodged in jails of 14 different countries. Only one Indian is lodged in jails of 14 other different countries.
This number could be more because many western countries do not share information about foreign nationals who are in their jails due to the strict provisions of their privacy laws.  The information available with the MEA is gathered by Indians Missions abroad.
Why are they in Jails?
As per information provided by the MEA, these Indians are in foreign jails for various crimes such as
A few Indians are also in foreign jails for grave offences like drug trafficking, theft, murder etc.
Indian Fishermen are apprehended every year
Apart from those lodged in foreign jails, Indian fishermen operating in waters between India and its neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are regularly apprehended by these nations for allegedly entering their territory. Most of them are released later along with their boats depending on agreements with these countries. More than 4000 Indian fishermen are apprehended by these 3 countries since 2013. Out of the 683 fishermen apprehended by Bangladesh since 2013, all of them have been released except for the 10 fishermen apprehended in 2016. Pakistan has apprehended 1428 Indian fishermen during this period out of which 1082 have been released. It is believed that 220 Indian fishermen are still in Pakistani jails. During this period, more than 2000 fishermen have been apprehended by Sri Lanka out of which most of them are released except 13 who are in custody.
In case of Pakistan, India has a bilateral Agreement on Consular Access, signed in May 2008. The India-Pakistan Joint Judicial Committee, consisting of retired judges of superior judiciary from the two countries, visit jails in both countries, to ensure humane treatment and expeditious release of prisoners, including fishermen, who have completed their prison terms.
In the case of Sri Lanka, Indian Mission works closely with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Defence, the Attorney General’s Office and the law enforcement agencies, to secure the release and repatriation of apprehended fishermen. There is a Joint Working Group on Fisheries and a Joint Committee on Fisheries, which take up fishermen’s issues for resolution on basis of the bilateral Understanding on Practical Arrangements of October 2008. In addition, talks are held from time to time between Fishermen’s Associations in India and Sri Lanka.
In the case of Bangladesh, on receipt of information of the arrest of Indian fishermen, Mission contacts the concerned District Magistrates in India to ascertain their Indian nationality and thereafter pursue with the Bangladesh authorities for their release. For this, Mission seeks consular access from Ministry of Foreign Affairs and contacts local NGOs for their welfare during their imprisonment in Bangladesh.
74 Indian Defence Personnel are also believed to be in Pakistan’s custody
As per information available with the MEA, 74 missing defence personnel are believed to be in Pakistan’s custody, including 54 since 1971.  According to the MEA, the Indian government has repeatedly taken up the matter with the Government of Pakistan through diplomatic channels and during high-level contacts, for their release. However, Pakistan does not acknowledge the presence of any Indian missing defence personnel in its custody.
MEA also maintains that the Indian government has conventionally held the position that India and Pakistan cannot invoke the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice in disputes concerning armed conflicts, hostilities etc. as both are members of the Commonwealth of Nations. But according to the MEA, this position has been reviewed and subject to Supreme Court’s judgment in an ongoing matter, government would be open to invoking the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.


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Many Indians, in addition to Ambedkar and Narayanan, have received the Doctor of Science degree - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
June 27, 2023
A post featuring images of B.R. Ambedkar and former Indian President K.R. Narayanan is being widely shared on social media, claiming that only these two individuals from India have passed the world’s toughest exam called Doctor of Science. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: B.R. Ambedkar and K.R. Narayanan are the sole individuals from India who have successfully passed the world’s toughest exam known as Doctor of Science.
Fact: While it is true that B.R. Ambedkar received the Doctor of Science for his thesis presented to the University of London in 1923, and K.R. Narayanan received an honorary Doctor of Science in 1987 from the University of Toledo, numerous Indian scientists, academicians, and others have also received this distinction. It is important to note that there is no definitive authority that ranks the difficulty of exams, and in the case of the Doctor of Science, such rankings are not applicable as there is no specific exam associated with this degree. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
The Doctor of Science (D.Sc. or Sc.D.) is a higher doctorate degree, also known as a postdoctoral degree program, awarded to individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of research and science. Many universities confer this degree based on the extensive research work published in reputable science journals. After completing a PhD, the D.Sc. may be awarded to candidates who have acquired vast experience in higher academia, and research, and have achieved excellence as academicians and researchers in specific fields. The time required to achieve a Doctor of Science can vary depending on factors such as the university, field of study, country, and other considerations, typically taking around 6-8 years. Additionally, the D.Sc. can also be awarded honoris causa, as an honorary recognition, to individuals who have demonstrated remarkable achievements and contributions to their respective fields, even without fulfilling the usual requirements for the degree.
According to a report published by the National Council for Education Research and Training (NCERT) on Ambedkar’s life and works, Ambedkar was awarded the Doctor of Science by the University of London in 1923 for his thesis titled ‘The Problem of Rupee‘.
Also, in 1987, K.R. Narayanan was bestowed with an honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Toledo, USA. As mentioned earlier, honorary doctorates are granted to individuals who have showcased exceptional accomplishments and significant contributions to their respective fields, regardless of not fulfilling the standard requirements for the degree.
Furthermore, it is worth noting that in addition to B.R. Ambedkar and K.R. Narayanan, several other notable Indians such as former President APJ Abdul Kalam, renowned chemist and Bharat Ratna recipient C.N.R. Rao, agricultural scientist M.S. Swaminathan, and many others who have excelled in their respective fields and made significant contributions to society, have also been awarded the Doctor of Science degree.
Furthermore, the Doctor of Science degree is bestowed upon individuals based on their significant research work and notable contributions to their respective fields, as exemplified by B.R. Ambedkar. It is also granted on an honorary basis, as seen in the case of K.R. Narayanan. It’s important to note that there is no definitive authority that ranks the difficulty of exams, and in the context of the Doctor of Science, such rankings are not applicable as there is no specific exam associated with this degree.
To sum it up, apart from B.R. Ambedkar and K.R. Narayanan, numerous individuals have been awarded the Doctor of Science degree.


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How many times did a Political Party secure more than 50% of the polled vote?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 20, 2022
The BJP won more than 52% of the vote share in the recently concluded Gujarat Assembly Elections in 2022. This is the first time for the party to have secured more than 50% vote share in a state assembly election contesting alone.  But how many times in the past has a party polled more than 50% of the vote? Here is an analysis.
In the recently concluded Gujarat Assembly Elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) retained power in the state by winning 156 out of the 182 assembly seats in the state. Historically, this is the highest number of seats won by a political party in Gujarat Assembly elections. In terms of vote share, BJP secured 52.5% of the total votes polled in the elections.
One has to go back to 2015 when the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured 54.3% of the total vote in the Delhi Assembly elections, the only such occasion in a state other the North-Eastern states in 25 years. But how many times has it happened since 1950 that a party secured more than 50% of the polled vote in an Assembly or Parliament elections? Here is ananalysis.
Methodology: The data on Election results published by Election Commission of India on its website is considered for analysis. Only individual political parties are considered for analysis i.e. coalitions that won more than 50% are excluded.
42 instances of a political party polling more than 50 % of the vote share
No individual party has ever secured more than 50% vote in a Parliamentary Election, but in assembly elections, an individual party secured more than 50% of the vote on 42 occasions (including Gujarat 2022).
In 1951, Indian National Congress (INC) managed to secure more than half of the votes polled across 4 states. This includes Sourashtra, Coorg , Bhopal (the three no longer exist as states) & Delhi.
The current result in Gujarat, is not the first time in the state where a party polled more than 50%. This was the fifth time that a political party has received a decisive mandate by securing more than 50% of the vote share. While, the 156 seats won by BJP is the highest in state’s history, the vote share is not the highest. INC secured 55.5% of the vote share in 1985 state assembly elections.
As highlighted earlier, it was 7 years ago that another political party managed to secure more than 50% in Assembly elections i.e. AAP in Delhi.
However, one has to go back to much farther i.e., 1990, for a political party to secure more than 50% of votes share in a large state. Janata Dal secured 53.7% of votes in Odisha Assembly elections in 1990. Post that, this happened only in the smaller North-Eastern states.
It happened most times in Sikkim
Out of the 42 times that a political party secured more than 50% of vote share, the most times it happened is in Sikkim (6 times). In 1985 Assembly elections, Sikkim Sangram Parishad secured 62.2% of the vote share, the first time in the state. This was repeated in the next elections. After a break, in four successive assembly elections i.e., 1999, 2004, 2009 & 2014, the Sikkim Democratic Front secure more than 50% of vote share.
This feat of a political party securing more than 50% vote share happened in 18 different states. Gujarat has the second highest number of such instances with 5 and also the highest among the large states.
Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir (when it was a state) & Karnataka have 3 such instances each.
Which Political party achieved this feat the most number of times?
The 2022 Gujarat elections were the first time that BJP has managed to secure more than 50% of the votes polled in a state assembly election contesting alone.  Overall 9 different political parties have achieved this feat.
The Indian National Congress did this the highest number of times with 30. The most recent was in 2009, in Arunachal Pradesh, where the INC secured 50.4% of the vote share.
If the large states are considered, the last time INC secured more than 50% of the vote share was in 1985. It secured 55.5% in Gujarat and 51.08% in Odisha.
Only two other political parties have managed to do this more than once, both of them belonging to Sikkim. The Sikkim Democratic Front won consecutively for four terms – 1999, 2004, 2009 & 2014. Prior to that, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad did in two consecutive terms – 1985, 1989.
Such occurrences have become rarer in the recent decades
Out of the 42 times that a party has secured more than 50% vote share, 19 have been during the decades 1971-80 and 1981-90. During the first decade of the Indian republic, this happened in 6 assembly elections, all by INC. In the next three decades it was 7, 10 & 9 respectively.
The 90s were a decade of political instability and during that period, this occurred only in 4 Assembly elections, all in North-Eastern states. The occurrences became much rarer, with only 6 such instances since the  turn of the century.
Various reasons can be cited for the emergence of this trend. Unlike the earlier decades, there is no single party dominance like in case of INC that dominated the elections. The emergence of strong regional & sub-regional parties & national alternatives, alliances among parties, etc. have contributed to a fractured vote share. Apart from AAP’s victory in 2015, BJP’s recent performance in Gujarat is significant in this context.
SDF’s performance in 2004 Sikkim elections is the best ever
As already highlighted above, two regional parties from Sikkim i.e., Sikkim Sangram Parishad and Sikkim Democratic Front are the only ones that have managed to repeat this feat more than once apart from the INC. They also occupy 3 out of top-5 positions in terms of vote share secured by a party.
In 2004 Sikkim Assembly elections, Sikkim Democratic Party retained power in the state on the back of polling 71.09% of the vote share. This bettered the performance of Sikkim Sangram Parishad in 1989 assembly elections of 70.41%.
Among the large states, National Conference in the erst-while state of Jammu & Kashmir secured 66.96% of the vote share in 1962 elections.
The best performance of Indian National Congress in terms of vote share was in the erst while state of Saurashtra in 1951 with 63.79% of vote share.
A political party has managed to win all the seats only twice
In the recent Gujarat assembly elections of 2022, BJP has managed to win 156 out of 182 seats, which is around 85.7% of the total seats. Earlier in 2015, AAP which secured 54.3 % of the votes has managed to win 67 out of 70 assembly seats in Delhi.
Only on two occasions in the last has the winning party secured more than 50% of the votes and has won all the seats. In 1989 Sikkim Assembly elections, the Sikkim Sangram Parishad has won all the 32 seats and secured a vote share of 70.41%. In 2009, Sikkim Democratic Front has repeated the feat with 65.9% vote share winning all 32 seats on offer.
India follows a first-past-the-post system, which often means that the number of seats won is not necessarily proportionate to the vote share secured.

created: December 20, 2022


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How many times did a Political Party secure more than 50% of the polled vote?
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 6, 2017
While analysts predict a tough fight between the BJP & the Congress, the BJP president has maintained that winning more than 150 seats in the upcoming Gujarat Assembly elections is their target. Winning more than 150 seats may be possible only when the vote share of BJP crosses 50%. How many times in the past has a party polled more than 50% of the vote?
When the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) secured 54.3% of the total vote in the Delhi Assembly election of 2015, it was the first time in 25 years that a party polled more than 50% of the vote in a state barring the North-Eastern states. But how many times has it happened since 1950 that a party secured more than 50% of the polled vote in a Assembly or Parliament elections?
Note:The analysis does not consider coalitions winning more than 50% vote, but only an individual political party securing more than 50% vote.
It has happened on 41 occasions in the past
No individual party has ever secured more than 50% vote in a Parliamentary Election, but in assembly elections, an individual party secured more than 50% of the vote on 41 occasions (including Delhi 2015). Below is the  complete list.
** These states do not exist anymore.
Where did this happen most?
A quick look at the states reveals that it happened in almost all regions of the country (North, East,West & South). It happened 6 times in Sikkim, 4 times in Gujarat, 3 times each in Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, Karnataka.
** These states do not exist anymore.
Which party did this most times?
No prizes for guessing here. Congress party achieved this most number of times (30) followed by the two Sikkim based state parties. The AAP, Janata Dal, Janata Party, National Conference & Telugu Desam Party achieved this once each. The Congress achieved this feat when it was essentially a two party election and also most times before 1980.
When did this happen most times?
As one looks at the period when this feat was achieved most times, it was done quite a few times in every decade up to 1990. Since then, the number of times where a party polled more than 50% of the total vote has been continuously declining. After 1990, it happened only on 9 occasions. Of these 9 occasions, the North-Eastern states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland & Sikkim accounted for eight (8). So in the last 27 years, Delhi assembly elections of 2015 was the only occasion when a party polled more than 50% votes barring the North-Eastern states. There could be multiple reasons like the emergence of strong regional parties in the last three decades,multiple parties in the fray, alliances etc. for this fall in the last three decades. Elections are no more a two party affair.
Which party won the highest ever vote in  history?
The highest ever vote share recorded in the history is 71.09% by the Sikkim Democratic Front in 2004. The Sikkim based parties feature thrice in the top 5. The National Conference won almost 67% of the vote in 1962 in Jammu & Kashmir. AAP’s 54.3% in Delhi 2015 assembly elections is 14
Did any party win a greater percentage of seats than AAP did in Delhi 2015?
The AAP secured 54.3% of the total vote in 2015, but won 67 out of the 70 seats which is a whopping 95.7% of the total seats. While this is on the higher side, it is not the highest. In Sikkim, the Sikkim Democratic Front (SDF) & the Sikkim Sangram Parishad (SSP) made a clean sweep, winning all the 32 seats on offer. The SSP did this in 1989 and the SDF in 2009. In terms of the percentage of seats won (of those parties that won more than 50% vote share), AAP stands 4 and all the other positions in the top 5 occupied by the Sikkim parties.

created: December 6, 2017


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How many URLs/Websites are blocked in India? Government gives different answers
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 24, 2017
In response to two different RTI applications, the government mentioned two different numbers with respect the number of blocked URLs/websites. In both cases, the government refused to disclose the list of URLs.
In response to an application under RTI, the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MEITY), Government of India said that a total of 11422 URLs/websites have been blocked since 2010. In response to another RTI application from SFLC, the government said 23030 websites are blocked in India. But the government refused to disclose the list of URLs in both cases citing a provision in Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for blocking for Access of Information for Public) Rules, 2009. But is it fair on the government to not disclose the list of blocked URLs?
Why & how is a website blocked?
The Government of India in 2009 notified the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for blocking for Access of Information for Public) Rules, 2009. These rules were made specifically to exercise powers under Sec 69A of the Information Technology Act 2000 which was subsequently amended. Sec 69A was added to the IT Act 2000 to introduce blocking of access to certain websites.The rules notified in the year 2009 detail out the process for blocking any URL/website. The request for blocking will not be accepted from any individual except the designated nodal officer of a department or the Chief Secretary of a state government. The rules also specify process to be followed in cases of emergency and in cases where a competent court has issued an order.So how many URLs are blocked so far?
In response to an application under RTI by Factly, MEITY said that a total of 11422 URLs were blocked since 2010 (till Sep 2017).The most number of URLs were blocked in the year 2015 when 4839 websites were blocked. It was in 2015 when the government initially banned more than 800 porn websites, but later revoked the ban. In 2016, the number URLs blocked dropped to almost 25% of previous year. The year 2017 also seems to be following a similar trend as of 2016. The further break up of these numbers in terms of why the website was blocked (because of a court order etc.) is not available.Conflicting numbers provided by the Government
In response to another RTI application by Ms. Priyanka of the Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), MEITY said that the number of websites blocked in India in 23030. Whether it is the number of websites blocked till date (including those prior to 2010) is not known. Even that is the case, it is not believable that more than 12000 websites were blocked before the 2009 rules.Government says it cannot disclose the list of URLs
In response to both the RTI applications, MEITY stated that as per Rule 16 of the Information Technology (Procedure and Safeguards for blocking for Access of Information for Public) Rules, 2009, strict confidentiality shall be maintained regarding all the requests and complaints received and actions taken thereof. And because of the confidentiality, it cannot disclose the list of URLs. However, MEITY says if one would like to know about a specific URL whether it is blocked or not, they will provide such information.
Non-Disclosure of the list violates the provisions of the RTI act
It has to be noted that neither the details of requests nor action taken were requested in the RTI applications. Only the list of URLs that were finally blocked was sought. How will disclosure of the list affect confidentiality of complaints received and action taken is something only MEITY can answer.
Moreover, Section 22 of the RTI act makes it clear that the provisions of the RTI act will prevail in case there is any inconsistency in any other law with respect to information disclosure. If anything, the government should examine the request in accordance to Section 8 of the RTI act that lays down exemptions to disclosure of information and decide if disclosure of the list of URLs attracts any of the exemption provisions. MEITY hasn’t done this.
Another issue to be noted is that most court orders these days are public documents. Mot such orders that direct blocking a particular URL are already in the public domain. For instance, in one the Supreme Court orders, an earlier direction of the government is mentioned along with the list of blocked URLs.
Featured Image: Websites blocked in India

created: October 24, 2017


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Maratha Quota Protests video from Aurangabad shared as ‘angry public chasing away Police in Assam after NRC’ - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 31, 2019
A video is being shared widely on Facebook with the claim that angry public is chasing away Policemen in Assam after the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC) was published. Let’s analyze the authenticity of that claim.
Video of public chasing away Policemen in Assam after publishing the final list of National Register of Citizens (NRC).
Fact: Video shows ‘Maratha Quota’ protesters chasing away Policemen in Aurangabad (Maharashtra). So, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
When the screenshots of the video in the post were searched using Yandex reverse image technique, the search result of a YouTube news channel ‘Policenama News’ was found to have similar footage. From the description of the news video, it was found that during ‘Maratha Reservation’ protests in Aurangabad, the Policemen were chased away by the protestors. So, with that information when searched on Google with keywords ‘Maratha protests angry people chase away police in Aurangabad’, a news video of ‘India Today’ with similar visuals as that of the video in the post was found. The information from that news video corroborated that the video is related to  ‘Maratha Reservation’ protests in Aurangabad (Maharashtra).
The National Register of Citizens (NRC) is the list of Indian citizens in Assam. From the ‘DD News’ article, it was found that the final NRC list of Assam was published on 31 August 31 2019, and it had excluded 19 lakh people.
To conclude, 2018 video of Maratha Protests in Aurangabad is being falsely shared as ‘angry public chasing away Police in Assam after NRC’.
Did you watch our new Episode of the DECODE series?

created: October 31, 2019


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March 2023 Video Shared as Recent Israelis Protest Against Netanyahu Amid Ongoing Israel-Hamas Conflict - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
October 22, 2023
Amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict that began in October 2023, a video depicting a massive crowd on the streets is circulating widely on social media. The claim accompanying the video suggests that it shows Israelis taking to the streets to protest against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Visuals of Israelis protesting against the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war against Palestine.
Fact: The visuals are from a protest in Tel Aviv in March 2023, where Israelis were demonstrating against a controversial plan by their government to reform the judiciary and does now show any recent protest against the war. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
We discovered that the viral video on Facebook was the video of TV9 Bharatvarsh, uploaded on its YouTube channel on 15 October 2023. However, a reverse image search of the visuals used in TV9’s video revealed that they were originally from March 2023. These visuals were uploaded on ‘The Telegraph’ YouTube channel. The description suggests that it depicts half a million protesters in Tel Aviv rallying against a controversial plan to reform the judiciary on 11 March 2023, as the Israeli government continued to push forward with the plan. Media reports about these protests at that time can be seen here and here.
Reportedly, there were some protests in Israel demanding assistance in locating hostages taken by Hamas and expressing dissatisfaction with Benjamin Netanyahu’s crisis management. However, as stated earlier, the video is outdated and does not reflect the current situation in Israel.
To sum it up, an old video from March 2023 is being shared as if it shows hundreds of thousands of Israelis protesting against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

created: October 22, 2023


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Marginal improvement in India's performance compared to the 2014 Glasgow games
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 16, 2018
India ended her campaign at the 2018 Commonwealth games with a total of 66 medals and 3rd position in the medal table. This is a marginal improvement from the previous edition of the Commonwealth games in Glasgow 2014 where India won 64 medals and stood 5th in the medal table.
The Commonwealth games (CWG) are conducted every four years with participation from most of the Commonwealth nations. The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) is responsible for the direction and control of the Commonwealth Games. The CGF selects the host nation and also lays down rules for the conduct of the games. India hosted the games in 2010 when New Delhi was the host city.
What all sports are included in the CWG?
The organization of the CWG is bound by the constitution of the CGF. The Constitution lays down rules for  maximum number of athletes, selection of sports etc. As per the latest version of the constitution & bye law 14, the sports program at the CWG must consist the following compulsory sports.
In addition to the compulsory sports, the host city may select from a given list of optional sports with the condition that the total number of team sports including from the compulsory sports shall not exceed 4. Usually a host city selects those sports where the host country is good at.
India’s performance at the CWG
India best performance in the last four editions of the CWG was in 2010 when New Delhi was the host city. India stood 2nd in the medal table in 2010 while it was 4th in the medal table in 2006 when the games were held in Melbourne. In 2014 when Glasgow was the host, India finished 5th in the medal table. In 2018 games held in Gold Coast, India finished 3rd behind Australia & England.
India won about 8% of all the medals on offer in 2018
In the 2018 games, India won a total of 66 medals (26 Gold, 20 Silver & 20 Bronze). This is about 8% of all the medals on offer in the 2018 edition. India won more than 100 medals only in the 2010 edition when she was the host country. In 2006, India won only 50 medals while it won 64 medals in 2014.
India’s performance was mixed in the last four editions of the CWG. In 2006, India won medals in only 7 of the 16 sports that were part of the competition. Wrestling, Archery, Tennis & Judo, where India was strong were not included in that edition. In 2010 when India was the host, she won medals in 12 of the 17 sports. Wrestling, Archery & Tennis were part of the games in 2010 that helped India bag the 2nd position in the medal table with more than 100 medals. In 2014 when Glasgow hosted the games, India again won medals in 12 of the 17 sports. Judo & Powerlifting were included in this edition while Archery & Tennis were excluded. In 2018 games, India won medals in 9 of the 18 sports that were part of the competition.
This is Part 1 of our special series on the Commonwealth Games. Part 2 looks at India’s performance in Individual sports in the last four editions of the CWG.


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Marine habitats photos shared as underwater pictures of Dwaraka city in India - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 22, 2021
A collage with a group of images is being shared on social media claiming these pictures as the underwater pictures of Dwaraka city that sunk inside the Western coast of India 5500 years ago. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Underwater pictures of Dwaraka city in India.
Fact: Three of the four photos shared in the post are from ‘The DIG Atlantis’ marine habitat located on the paradise island of Bahamas. The other photo is from Neptune Memorial Reef underwater columbarium located in Florida state of United States. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Image 1&4:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, we found a similar image posted in ‘Pinterest’ website. In the description of the photo, it is mentioned as the artistic redemption of ‘The Lost City of Atlantis’, created inside ‘The Dig Atlantis’ marine habitat at the Paradise Island in Bahamas. When we searched for more reliable sources using these keywords, we found the same image in an article published by ‘Practical Paradise Island’ website. On the website, this image is mentioned as the visual from ‘The DIG Atlantis’ Underwater Wonderland located on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. A similar visual found in the video posted on the official YouTube channel of Atlantis Bahamas.
The same image found in the google images of ‘The DIG Atlantis’ marine habitat. We can see the same architecture in the YouTube videos posted by some tourists. A tourist shared the complete inside view of ‘The DIG Atlantis’ marine habitat on his YouTube channel. Another photo of the same structure captured from a different angle is also found on the Atlantis Bahamas official Instagram channel.
Image 2:
A similar picture of the majestic column is found in the article published in ‘Practical Paradise Island’ website. This photo is mentioned as the architecture from ‘The DIG Atlantis’ marine habitant located on paradise island in the Bahamas. Atlantis Bahamas official Pinterest handle has also shared the same picture through their account.
We can see a similar visual in the YouTube videos published by a few tourists of ‘The DIG Atlantis’ marine habitat. They can be seen here and here.
Image 3:
On reverse image search of the photo shared in the post, a similar visual was found in the article published on the Amusing Planet website. In the article, it is mentioned as the visual from Neptune Memorial Reef underwater columbarium located in Florida. This reef was initially constructed as the replica of ‘The Lost City of Atlantis’, but later it shifted to a more profitable goal by becoming the world’s first underwater cemetery and memorial park. Reporting the same, few other websites published articles on Neptune Memorial Reef memorial park.
Similar sculpture visuals can be seen here and here in the videos uploaded on the YouTube channel of ‘NeptuneMemorialReef’. Also, the same architecture can be seen in the photo gallery of Neptune Memorial Reef. From all these pieces of evidence, it is concluded that this photo shared in the post is from Neptune Memorial Reef in Florida.
To sum it up, photos from different marine habitats in the world shared as the underwater pictures of Dwaraka city in India.

created: January 22, 2021


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Markandey Katju didn’t refer to BJP as a gang of goons and criminals - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 27, 2019
A post claiming that Justice Markandey Katju has made the following statements about the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making rounds on social media- ‘BJP Isn’t A Political Party! It Is An Organized Gang Of Goons, Uneducated School Dropouts, Criminals And Brain Washed Morons!!!! Period!!!!’.  Let’s try to analyze the authenticity of the claim made in the post.
Justice Markandey Katju: ‘BJP Isn’t A Political Party! It Is An Organized Gang Of Goons, Uneducated School Dropouts, Criminals And Brain Washed Morons!!!! Period!!!!’.
Fact: Justice Markandey Katju didn’t make those comments about the BJP. When screenshots of tweets from an imposter account of Katju went viral, he clarified that those weren’t from his official Twitter account which is ‘@mkatju’. So, the claim is FALSE.
When searched on Google if Justice Katju has made these comments, information from no credible source was found in the search results. When searched on Facebook, a screenshot of a tweet purportedly made by Justice Katju with the above statements was found. But, when searched for information on Twitter, a tweet by Justice Katju clarifying that Twitter posts making rounds on Facebook and Twitter are from a fake account in his name and his genuine Twitter account is@mkatju.
To sum it up, Markandey Katju didn’t refer to BJP as a gang of goons and criminals. Fake quotes are being attributed to Katju.
Did you watch our new Episode of the DECODE series?

created: December 27, 2019


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Marriages in India are GST-free irrespective of the expenses; GST is applicable only on Goods or Services used for performing the ceremony - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 23, 2022
A post is being widely shared on social media platforms claiming that a sum of ₹96,000 should be paid as GST if the marriage budget is ₹5 lakh. Let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: ₹96,000 should be paid as GST if the marriage budget is ₹5 lakh.
Fact: No rule/act/law levies GST on marriages in India even if the expenses are ₹5 lakh or more. However, GST is applicable for the Goods and Services used for performing the wedding ceremony. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
We searched for the information regarding ‘GST on marriages‘ on GST portal, CBIC website, GST council website, GST act, PIB, and other related websites but couldn’t find any law or rule which exclusively levies GST on marriages. However, GST is applicable on various services used in performing marriages like hiring a wedding hall, decoration, catering, wedding card, photography etc. According to the GST website, the GST rates for various services used in marriage can be seen below:
Since budget, choice of items, decoration of every marriage is different, it is not possible to calculate the GST burden in a general sense. Some private bills were introduced in the parliament to contain the extravagant spending & food wastage in Indian weddings. However, most of them are either pending or lapsed. More about these bills can be read here.
To sum it up, there is no GST on weddings in India even if the marriage expenses are ₹5 lakhs. GST is applicable only on Goods or Services used for performing the wedding ceremony.


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Masks do not contain worms, they are synthetic fibre - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
January 26, 2022
Multiple videos are being shared on social media for quite some time now with a claim that face masks contain black worms and that wearing them would lead to infections as those worms would enter the human body. Let’s fact-check this claim.
Claim: Face Masks contain black worms
Fact: The worm-like things are not living organisms. They are harmless textile fibres that sometimes move due to static electricity. The movement can also happen because of the moisture absorbed from human breath or water. Hence the claim is FALSE.
Upon searching on Google about the black objects moving around in a face mask, an article in the Health Desk about fibres moving around in COVID-19 test swabs was found. Public health experts at the Meedan Health Desk had written an article explaining the movement of fibres in the COVID-19 test swabs. They even mentioned that the videos circulating online claiming that fibres on face masks cause disease have “no scientific basis”. “Any movement of fibres from face masks can be attributed primarily to moisture”. The video does not show black worms but textile fibres. “
“Any strands in face masks that appear to be moving on their own under a microscope are regular, textile fibres that make up a large portion of house dust.” The worm-like things are not living organisms. They are harmless textile fibres that sometimes move due to static electricity. The movement can also happen because of the moisture absorbed from human breath or water.
A YouTube channel named Microbehunter show, in a video, explains that the black objects are not worms but textile fibres from clothing. Thousands of such fibres are isolated and made to move around under the microscope.
When a similar claim was viral in April 2021, AFP had written a fact-check article debunking it. In the article, Jana Nebesarova, Assistant Professor at the electron microscopy laboratory at the Biological Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, was quoted saying: “The mask or a (swab for a Covid-19) test can contain threads that either got there during the manufacturing process or during their handling just before they were about to be used. In any event, they are not dangerous for a healthy person; this is stuff we breathe in every single day and our ciliated epithelium, which lines our respiratory system, knows how to deal with these alien microscopic particles very well.”
To sum it up, masks do not contain worms; they are synthetic fibre.

created: January 26, 2022


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Massive FCRA Cancellation is not a new thing. 4138 NGOs lost their FCRA licenses in 2012
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 29, 2015
The cancellation of FCRA certificates of 8975 NGOs by the Union Home Ministry made front page news. But this is not the first time such massive cancellations happened. According to the data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs, FCRA certificates of 4138 NGOs were cancelled for violation of FCRA act & rules (failure to submit annual reports) in 2012. The USA, UK & Germany have remained the top donor countries while Delhi, Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh are the top receipient states.
In an order dated 06th April, 2015, the Union Home Ministry cancelled the FCRA (Foreign Contribution Regulation Act) certificate of 8975 organizations (NGOs) for violating Section 18 of the FCRA act. According to the FCRA act 2010 and the subsequent rules, any NGO that receives foreign funding after obtaining the FCRA clearance from the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is supposed to file mandatory annual return within 9 months of the closure of the financial year. The government in the order said that notices have been issued to 10343 organizations for failing to submit annual reports for the period 2009-10, 2010-11 & 2011-12. Out of this, only 229 organizations sent a reply and hence the FCRA certificate of 8975 organizations stands cancelled.
The state wise and organization wise list of these 8975 organizations is not available yet. Though there may be allegations of witch hunt by the government, nothing can be said unless the list is out. From the data available with the MHA, this is not the only time that cancellation of FCRA certificates took place at such a massive scale. In 2011-12, a total of 4138 FCRA certificates were also cancelled during the UPA government for similar violations.
Non Submission of Annual Returns
It is clear from the data available with the MHA that a large number of NGOs fail to submit their annual returns as mandated by the FCRA act and the rules. As of December, 2014, a total of 10,343 NGOs have not filed annual returns for any of the financial years 2009-2010, 2010-2011 and 2011-2012 and notices have been issued to them. This number stands at 22037 for the year 2012-13 and 32248 for the year 2013-14.
Donor Countries
Since 2008-09, contributions under the FCRA came from more than 100 donor countries. The top three in every financial year since then have been the USA, UK & Germany. While the donors from USA have contributed more than Rs 3000 crore every financial year, donors from UK & Germany have contributed more than 1000 crore every financial year. The data for 2013-14 is only partially available. In this period, there was 100 rupee contribution from Uzbekistan, 1000 rupee contributions from Palestine, Paraguay & Maldives.
States that received Maximum Contribution
From the data available with the MHA, Delhi, Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh (Including Telangana) has received the maximum contribution each year in that order. Delhi topped the list with almost 2000 crore rupees each year followed by Tamil Nadu with more than 1500 crore rupees followed by Andhra Pradesh with more than 1000 crore rupees each year. Incidentally, these three states figure in the top in the number of cancellations in 2012.
FCRA Certificate Cancellation in 2012
In 2012, a total 4138 NGOs had their FCRA license cancelled because of similar violations. Tamil Nadu topped the list with 794 such NGOs followed by Andhra Pradesh with 670 such NGOs. Kerala was third with 450 such NGOs. In Delhi, 299 such NGOs had their licenses cancelled.
Source: FCRA Wing, Ministry of Home Affairs


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Maternity and sterilisation benefits provided under various governments are extended to individuals from all religions - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 12, 2023
A post claiming that the Congress government has shown discrimination against Hindus concerning maternity and male sterilisation schemes is being shared on social media. The post alleges that while Rs. 1,500 is paid to ‘Ramlal’ for sterilisation, Rs. 6,000 is paid to ‘Salma’ as maternity benefit. The post mocks the Congress government pointing out that this is how it has controlled the population of the country. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Congress government showed discrimination against Hindus concerning maternity benefit scheme and sterilization.
Fact: As per the reports available on Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website, Sterilization and maternity benefits were extended to all eligible individuals irrespective of religion. These benefits were provided under various governments including the Congress. Hence, the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Upon searching for information related to the post on the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare website, we found a report related to providing compensation for sterilization under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) during the year 2007 under the Congress government. As per this report, compensation for sterilization was given to all individuals irrespective of religion.
Breakup of the compensation provided by the government can be viewed in the below table. The Government of India also increased the compensation for sterlization in 2014.
In April 2005, the Congress government launched Janani Suraksha Yojana (JSY) under the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) with the objective of reducing maternal and neo-natal mortality by promoting institutional delivery among poor pregnant women. Under JSY, maternity benefits were extended to all individuals irrespective of religion.
To sum it up, maternity and sterilisation benefits provided under various governments were provided to individuals from all religions

created: December 12, 2023


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Maternity & Paternity Leave around the World
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
March 11, 2017
India has passed a law to enhance the maternity leave from 12 to 26 weeks. A look at the maternity & paternity leave policies around the world indicates that India has a long way to go.
International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Maternity and Paternity at Work Report 2014 states that maternity protection is a fundamental right and an element of comprehensive work-family policies. It is crucial for promoting maternal and child health and preventing discrimination against women in the workplace. The goal of maternity protection legislation is to enable women to combine their reproductive and productive roles successfully and promote equal opportunities and treatment in employment and occupation without prejudice to health or economic security.
India passed the ‘Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Bill, 2016’ on March 9th, 2017 extending the maternity leave from 12 weeks to 26 weeks. According to the World Policy Center, the number of countries extending at least 14 weeks of leave has been steadily rising since 1995.
Around the World
While some high-income countries have a generous maternity leave, some countries in Central Asia and Eastern European region like Croatia, give up to 58 weeks, the highest in the world. Besides the countries with highest maternity leave, Czech Republic has 28 weeks and Vietnam, Venezuela and Isle of Man have 26 weeks each along with India.
Source: 2014 ILO Report (Data limited to available data mandated by country laws. Maternity policies are evolving in several countries; some changes outside the report might not been reflected)
According to available data, eight countries do not guarantee paid leave to mothers of infants.  These are: Papua New Guinea, Suriname, the United States of America, and 5 small Pacific island states (Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, and Tonga).
USA is the only high-income country that does not have a statutory maternity leave policy. Five states in USA have created their own maternity policies; some use their 12 weeks of unpaid family/medical leave and some companies offer it as employee benefits. A US Department of Labor study in 2012 indicated that 23% of the workers who participated in the survey took less than two weeks off to care for their infant making them vulnerable to health risks.
Paternity or Parental Leave
The inclusion of basic paternity leave or combined family leave provisions would have made India’s bill a historic legislation for two reasons.
An IMF working paper in 2015 on Indian women participation in organized labor force discusses that a working wage is chosen by women only if the earnings at least make up for the lost home production, both goods and services like child rearing. This is because majority of household related work in India is assumed as the responsibility of the female partner including parenting. This is one of the barriers that prevent women from participating in the labor force in spite of having the education and the intent. Also, the burden of childcare falls on the female partner triggering them to leave the workforce after childbirth in nuclear families.
ILO’s Maternity and Paternity at Work Report 2014 quotes researcher Erin Rehel on role of the father at home. “By drawing fathers into the daily realities of childcare, free of workplace constraints, extended time off [immediately after the birth]provides the space necessary for fathers to develop the parenting skills and sense of responsibility that then allows them to be active co-parents rather than helpers to their female partners. This shift from a manager-helper dynamic to that of co-parenting creates the opportunity for the development of a more gender-equitable division of labor”
Around the World
Unlike India, a number of countries around the world have paternity leave or parental leave. Some of the best parental leave policies are below:
In Norway, a father can take 10 weeks paid leave to be with his child along with an option of taking 26 weeks of parental leave at 100% pay or 36 weeks of parental leave at 80%. In case the child is in the sole care of mother or father, they can take 10 weeks of mandated leave and are entitled to take the 36 weeks of parental leave. If both parents take 10 weeks each, they still have an additional 36 weeks between them to take care of the child.
In Sweden, more than 68 weeks (480 days) of parental leave can be shared between parents.  Out of the 480 days, 90 days are reserved for the fathers.  For 390 days, they are entitled to 80% pay and remaining 90 are flat rate benefits. Those who are not employed also are entitled for parental leave
In Denmark, parental leave depends on your employer agreements and it can amount up to 52 weeks. According to general practice mother has the rights for 4 weeks of leave directly before birth and up to 14 weeks after birth. The father is entitled to take weeks and share 32 weeks of parental leave between both parents.
In United Kingdom, the father can take up to 52 weeks, minus the days taken by the mother as maternity leave. The pay is different depending on the weeks taken.
In Germany, father or mother can take up to 52 weeks of parental leave with a minimum of 2 months for each parent. If both parents take at least 2 months, the leave is extended up to 60 weeks.
In Canada, besides the 15 weeks of maternity leave, parents are given 35 weeks of leave that can be shared between them.
Even low-income countries like Tunisia have 1 day of paternity leave. This new maternity bill for India is a lost opportunity to label India as a gender-neutral country in law and practice. Integrating the role of fathers into parental responsibility will allow women to feel equal as well as contribute to their family and country financially. And no law should deny a father his right or want to spend time with his newborn child just because of his gender.
Featured Image:Maternity & Paternity Leave Around the World


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The Math of Rajya Sabha elections
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
August 10, 2017
After a nail biting finish to the Rajya Sabha elections in Gujarat, everyone is talking about the quota of votes.  Quota is the minimum number of votes required to be elected.  The math of the Rajya Sabha election is complex.
The Upper House of parliament is called the Rajya Sabha (RS). It is also known as the ‘Council of States’ since the members of Rajya Sabha are elected by the legislators of state assemblies. Each state has a fixed number of RS seats and 1/3rd of them come up for election every 2 years. Article 80 of the constitution stipulates the maximum size of the house. The number of elected RS members from the States & UTs cannot be more than 238. Apart from the elected members, 12 members can be nominated by the President of India. Currently there are 233 elected members and 12 nominated members.
The Election Process
The system of election of members to the Rajya Sabha is by proportional representation by means of the single transferable vote (STV). The STV system is similar to the one followed in the election to the President of India and members of the legislative council in states. The vote is transferred from one candidate to another in any of the two situations mentioned below.
In STV, each voter ranks the list of candidates in order of preference. In the ballot paper, they place a ‘1’ beside their most preferred candidate, a ‘2’ beside their second most preferred, and so on. The completed ballot paper therefore contains the candidates in the order of preference as marked by the voter.
The Quota
The minimum number of valid votes required for a candidate to be declared elected is called the quota. The quota calculation depends on the number of seats to be filled.
Scenario 1:
At an election where only one seat is to be filled, every ballot paper is deemed to be of the value of one and the quota is calculated by adding the values credited to all the candidates and dividing the total by two and adding one to the quotient, ignoring the remainder, if any, and the resulting number is the quota. It has to be
For instance, if the total number of votes polled is 65, then the quota is
In this case, for any candidate to be elected, he has to secure a minimum of 33 first preferential votes to be elected in the first round.
Scenario 2:
At an election where more than one seat is to be filled, every ballot paper is deemed to be of the value of 100 and the quota is determined by adding the values credited to all the candidates and dividing the total by a number which exceeds by one the number of vacancies to be filled and adding one to the quotient ignoring the remainder, if any, and the resulting number is the quota.
For instance, if 3 candidates are to be elected and the total number of voters who participated in the poll is 176, the quota is
In this case, a candidate has to get a minimum of 4401 votes or first preferential vote of 45 voters to be elected in the first round.
The Counting Process
If none of the candidates get the required quota of first preference votes, then a process of vote transfer takes place, successively eliminating those who get the least number of first preferential votes.
For instance, in an election to fill one vacancy, there are four candidates in the fray and the total number of valid votes is 1235. According to the STV formula, the quota of first preference votes required for victory is 618 ignoring the remainder.
In the first round, any candidate securing a minimum of 618 first preferential votes gets elected.  In this example, none of the four candidates secures the quota. Hence there is no winner after the first round and the process of vote transfer takes place. At the same time, the candidate with the least number of first preference votes is eliminated.Since Wesley is the candidate with the least first preference votes, he is eliminated. When he is eliminated, his votes are transferred to the other three candidates. The transfer takes place in proportion of the 2nd preference votes received by the other three candidates in those ballots with a first preference vote to Wesley. In this example, out of the 235 ballots with a first preference votes to Wesley, 170 of them had Swarajyam as 2nd preference, 35 of them had Babu Rao as the 2nd preference and the remaining 30 had Ramesh Naidu as the 2nd Preference. Hence the transfer takes place in that proportion.
After round two (after transfer of votes), Swarajyam has 620 votes, which is two more than the required quota. Hence she is declared elected and the remaining three are eliminated. This process of transfer continues until a clear winner is found. Sometimes, the process can run into multiple rounds to find the winner.
The case of Ahmed Patel’s election
In the biennial elections to 3 seats of Rajya Sabha from Gujarat, the total number of voters who participated in the election was 176. Since the election is to more than one seat, the value of each vote is 100. Hence the quota for any candidate to get elected is the following.
So every candidate had to get the first preferential vote of a minimum of 45 voters to be elected in the first round. But since the Election Commission rejected the votes of two Congress MLAs, the number of voters came down to 174 and the quota came down to 4351
After the rejection of two votes, each candidate had to get the first preferential vote of a minimum of 44 voters to be elected in the first round. Since Ahmed Patel secured the first preferential votes of 44 MLAs, he secured a total of 4400 votes and was declared elected in the first round. If the EC had not rejected the votes of two Congress MLAs, the counting would have gone into the second round. The contest would have been a closer one and Ahmed Patel would have still won as explained in this story in The Hindu.


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Matterhorn mountain (Switzerland) was illuminated with various countries flag as a sign of hope and solidarity - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
April 22, 2020
An image is being shared on social media claiming that Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland was lit up with Indian tricolour to convey gratitude to the country for sending the life-saving Hydroxychloroquine drugs in the fight against COVID-19. Let us check the claim made in the post.
Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland was lit up with Indian tricolour to convey gratitude to the country for sending the life-saving Hydroxychloroquine drugs in the fight against COVID-19.
Fact: Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland was lit up with Indian tricolour to express solidarity and give hope and strength to all Indians in the fight against COVID-19; not as a gratitude to the country for sending the life-saving Hydroxychloroquine drugs. From many days, the Matterhorn mountain is being illuminated with flags of various countries. So, the claim is MISLEADING.
When searched on the internet, a Facebook post of ‘Zermatt Matterhorn’ regarding the act mentioned in the post was found. As per this post, the Matterhorn mountain was illuminated with Indian tricolour to express solidarity and give hope and strength to all the Indians in their fight against COVID-19. A tweet with the same information was also retweeted with a comment by PM Narendra Modi.
Also, on the website of ‘Zermatt Matterhorn’ it can be read that, on behalf of Zermatt, a light artist Gerry Hofstetter will be illuminating the Matterhorn daily from 24 March 2020 as a sign of hope and solidarity in these difficult times of coronavirus pandemic.
The Matterhorn mountain was also illuminated with the flags of various countries (US, China, UK, Japan, Germany, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Spain, Bahrain, Qatar, and other countries) and information about it can be read here.
To sum it up, the Matterhorn mountain in Switzerland was lit up with Indian tricolour to express solidarity and give hope and strength to Indians in the fight against COVID-19.
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The maze of Child Marriage Laws in India
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
December 1, 2016
As per the 2011 census, more than 12 million persons in India were married before they reached an age of 10. The multitude of personal laws and varied court judgments have made it difficult to tackle the problem of Child Marriages in the country.
The 2011 Census of India revealed that 12 million persons were married before they reached 10 years of age. A staggering 65% of the 12 million being girls. These numbers are shocking considering that India’s first legislation on the subject of minimum age of marriage was drafted in 1929 called the Sarda Act or the Child Marriage Restraint Act. According to the original act, the minimum age of marriage for girls was 15 and 18 for boys.
Today, more than 80 years after that legislation, there is a lack of consensus in openly accepting that child marriages legitimize human rights violations. The lack of comprehensive legal reform to curb the problem is an outcome of low political and social priority that is associated with children in India. India ratified the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child in 1989 but India’s child protection laws remain open ended and isolated from each other.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act, 1929
The aim of the 1929 legislation was an attempt to prevent the solemnizing of child marriages. According to the International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Invention, “Under this Act, a “child‟ means a person who, if a male has not completed 21 years of age, and if female has not completed 18 years of age‟. Child marriage means a marriage to which either of the contracting parties is child. This Act, prescribed 15 as the minimum age for girls, and 18 for boys, but such was the impact of the social reality and notions that the child marriage were made neither. Child Restraint Act was amended in 1978 to increase the minimum age of marriage to 18 for girls and 21 for boys.
The Child Marriage Restraint Act 1929 was a dead legislation that largely existed on paper. Initially, it was the disapproval and allegations of cultural interference by orthodox communities in India that put the cause on the back burner of the government. But even after progressive social reform and national independence, the intent remained only on paper.
Even though the Act insists that persons performing the marriage and adult male involved in the marriage are punishable with a fine of Rs.1000 or simple imprisonment, child marriage was not voidable and once performed was valid. Another limitation of the Act was its inability to take cognizance of an offence under this Act after the expiry of one year from the date on which it is alleges to have been committed.
The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (POCM), 2006
It took India 76 years to repeal The Child Marriage Restraint Act for its legislative and legal shortcomings. The Act was replaced with the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act.
According to handbook released by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, the contents of The Prohibition of Child Marriage Act can be categorized into three main actionable goals – prevention, protection and prosecution.
The Act defined Child as person below 18 years of age for girls and 21 years of age for boys. Some of the main changes in this act from its previous legislation is extending the length of punishment to the offenders to two years of imprisonment and fine of 1 lakh rupees or both. The Act requires that incase of the marriage becoming void, money and gift transactions need to be returned. The Act also assures the protection of the female child after a void marriage by requiring to be provided financially till she remarries.
The need for a rights based approach to end child marriages
The current legislation like its predecessor does not automatically declare a child marriage void. It specifies that only if the child is taken away from their lawful guardian by enticement, force or deceitful manner, or is sold or trafficked for the purpose of marriage can the marriage be void. The other acceptable scenario to make a child marriage void is if a court injunction before the marriage itself was violated.
It is important for India to integrate child rights as the core issue in the fight against child marriages. This is not only about forced marriages, it about children entering wedlock without any prior understanding of the relationship as well as the consequences. It is about children held against their will. It is about denying children their basic right to life, education and development.
According to Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) report on child marriages in India, the law creates confusion by declaring some marriages void and some others voidable. Marriage of a minor solemnized by use of force, fraud, deception, enticement, selling and buying or trafficking is a void marriage, while all other child marriages are voidable at the option of the parties to the marriage and hence valid marriages until they are nullified by the court. If the law does not attribute consent to a child, it must render all child marriages void, as all child marriages then become marriages that have taken place either through some form of coercion or use of fraud, trafficking and such other illegal means, or by influencing the mind of the child.
In 2012, a Jaipur based NGO Sarathi Trust facilitated India’s first known child marriage annulment. Even though The Child Marriage Prohibition Act allows annulment of marriage, this is only possible by approaching the courts by either party in the marriage. In majority of the cases in India, both the parties in child marriage are minor children who might not be able to navigate themselves to approach law enforcement authorities or courts directly. A large number of children feel intimidated by lack of education and girls feel unsafe by reporting incidents against their married home or parents. The 2011 Census of India also indicated that girls were disproportionately effected by child marriage and that eight in ten illiterate children who were married were also girls.
One of the top reasons girls are not sent to school after puberty is because of fears regarding sexual safety and violence in spaces outside of home. It is very critical to create safe spaces for them to study, meet their peers and understands their sexual and reproductive rights. Even if a child is married before she turns 10, she remains at her parent’s home till she reaches puberty. These safe spaces will allow her to understand the consequences of her moving to a married home and might also give her strength and courage to exercise her rights to annul the marriage.
According to UNICEF, the best strategy to delay marriage for children is to retain them in school longer. According to Indian law, a child is entitled to free and compulsory education only till 14 years of age and many children from economically weak backgrounds drop out after that. It will be a step in the right direction if Right to Education is extended till all children are 18 years of age. This will bridge the gap between legal age for marriage and reduce to financial burden of parents to facilitate children to continue their education.
Social Incentives & Schemes
Government of India’s position on child marriages already addresses it as a social, cultural and economic issue. Over the years, government has drafted created several schemes to encourage girl child education and development, the most popular of them being conditional cash transfer schemes to provide support for families with girls. Even though this kind of scheme is an excellent social incentive, implementation has been ineffective due to ground capacities. Planning Commission and United Nations Population Fund- India commissioned a study in 2010 to understand the feasibility of these schemes. According to the report, a major roadblock is the lack of co-ordination among government departments and lack of ground resources to monitor such schemes.
Many initiatives by Indian governments past and present have been undertaken to support the development of the girl child and against female infanticide but no single program that works directly with the goal of eliminating the practice of child marriage. Even though female infanticide, education, domestic violence are important aspects and have an indirect link to child marriages, they do not address the issue directly.
Establishing link between trafficking, slavery and child marriage
According to CRY (Child Rights and You), at least 180 children go missing in India every day, including 22 from the nation’s capital. The total number of untraced children in 2015 was 62,988 as against 34,244 in the year 2013 as per government data. While a large number of children are untraced, it is likely that many more have not even been reported missing by their parents and guardians.
International agencies have multiple times established the direct link between missing children and child trafficking. Missing children could be abducted, kidnapped, sold by known acquaintances to agents who in turn hold them captive and channel them to brothels, sell them into forced marriages to older partners who sexually exploit and abuse them. A large number of trafficked children are girls who are sold into forced marriages to places within India where sex ratios are dwindling.
Aidan McQuade of Anti-Slavery International says “to define when child marriage becomes slavery, we propose that one or more of the three indicators are present: when the ability to refuse, leave or end a marriage is denied; when a child spouse is exploited within the marriage or denied freedom of choice on her personal matters; and when a child spouse is subject to rape and violence without recourse to law or society for protection.”
India’s Immoral Trafficking and Prevention Act interprets exploitation during trafficking at the minimum as of the prostitution of others or other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. But the Act implicitly does not state anything about coerced unions like child marriages or the slavery and trafficking as elements of that outcome.
Gaps and Challenges
Even though India has drafted many critical laws and legislations for children, the laws essentially do not always compound each other in a real scenario because they contradict each other or have different definitions. For example, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 that defines any sexual act with a child below 18 years of age as an offence and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act that prohibits child marriages but makes them valid once solemnized. In which case, it is likely that minor children have no choice but to enter a sexual union once married, and sex with a child willing or unwilling becomes legal.  Such contradictions need to be corrected and a uniform stance needs to be taken across all laws pertaining to children in order to protect their rights and life.  Power to override personal and religious laws in this regard needs to be integrated into the legal framework.
India also needs to move from its traditional stance of considering sex trafficking alone as the core issue and include other possible forms of trafficking like domestic slavery and child marriages. It is important for the lawmakers to consider children as a separate entity and draft provisions for them. In spite of the Immoral Trafficking and Prevention Act stating that all forms of sexual exploitation are a crime, if a child is sexually exploited and coerced within a marriage, the legal validity of marriage protects the perpetuators.  It is therefore very important to declare all child marriages as void regardless if a party to the marriage has asked for an annulment or not.
While the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act governs child marriage in India, the legal system also takes into account a gamut of personal laws. Under Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, parents, guardians, religious and community leaders promoting the marriage are punishable but under the Hindu Marriage Act, the punishment applies only to the couple themselves and no penalty to parents, guardians or others. According to Muslim Personal Law, puberty, presumed at 15 years is considered minimum age for marriage, where as the Child Marriage Prohibition Act clearly states that all marriages before girls turn 18 and boys turn 21 are punishable under law. Under Jewish Personal law, minimum age of marriage for girls is presumed at 12 years of age. All marriages after 12 are considered legal and valid. Inconsistencies between the personal laws and the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act has caused complications and varied judgments by courts.  There is an urgent need to override all personal laws in the case of child marriage and declare the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act supersedes all other laws.
Integrating all the existing child laws in India under one umbrella in a way that they are consistent with each other and compound each other when put together will be an important step to tackle the problem of child marriages.

created: December 1, 2016