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| - Fact Check: Prominent news channel twists the tale of distressed MP farmer
A report by prominent news channel ABP News claiming that the farmer's electricity connection was cut despite paying the bill is being shared and commented upon widely.
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India Today Fact Check
The collector not only listened to the farmer but also ensured the redressal of his problem. The issue was not disconnection of electricity but installation of a transformer.
A video clip of a farmer weeping and falling at the feet of the Shivpuri district collector in Madhya Pradesh over the cutting off of his electricity connection has spread like wildfire across social and mainstream media.
A report by prominent news channel ABP News claiming that the farmer's electricity connection was cut despite paying the bill is being shared and commented upon widely.
The report, however, is misleading.
The report has been covered to falsely portray civil servant, Anugrah P, as not listening to the pleas of the farmer.
India Today Fact Check found that the farmer was, in reality, seeking the district collector's intervention for the immediate installation of a new transformer in the area. The newly appointed district collector did listen to the plea and asked the concerned authorities to take the required action. The transformer was installed within a day.
The report has been viewed by over half a million times and shared by almost 20,000 people on Facebook at the time of publishing this story.
The header reads: Madhya Pradesh: "Shivpuri mein collector ke pairon mein gira kisaan, bill bharne ke baad bhi kaat di bijli (Madhya Pradesh: A farmer falls at the feet of the collector in Shivpuri, electricity connection cut despite paying the bill)."
The ABP news report shows a farmer falling at the feet of the collector when she reaches her car. The voiceover says: Madam did not listen to the farmer’s plea. She went and sat in the car.
The approximately 35-second report shows the visual of the farmer falling at the collector’s feet twice but does not show what happened next.
News agency ANI first reported the incident on December 31, 2018.
The full video from ANI shows the district collector rolling down the window and assuring the farmer of immediate redressal of his problem, moments after she sat in her car. The complete video can be seen here.
#WATCH Shivpuri(Madhya Pradesh): A farmer breaks down and falls to the feet of the newly appointed Collector Anugrah P seeking her intervention for installation of a new transformer in his village. The transformer was installed later. (28.12.18) pic.twitter.com/GPOe3ydnv4 ANI (@ANI) December 31, 2018
We spoke to concerned collecter Anugrah P about the incident. She said that the farmer -- Ajita Singh of village Rinnai had applied for the installation of a transformer under the Mukhya Mantri Sthayi Krishi Pump Connection Yojna on August 14, 2018, to help with irrigation. He had also deposited the money needed for executing the project with the energy department of the Madhya Pradesh government.
The collector said that it takes up to six months for the completion of the process. "On December 28, 2018, the farmer made a rather sudden and dramatic appeal to me while I was coming out of my office. He pleaded for the expediting of the project as his crops were drying up due to lack of irrigation," she said.
"I took up the matter immediately and asked my department to talk to the electricity board to install the transformer as soon as possible. I also ordered an inquiry," the civil servant added.
Anugrah also told us that she had taken charge just a day before the incident -- on December 27, 2018.
Our Shivpuri correspondent, Pramod Bhargava, also confirmed that the installation process started the very next day and by December 30, 2018, the transformer had been installed in the Rinnai village. We could not speak to Ajita Singh, but Rinnai sarpanch's son Golu Raghuvanshi confirmed that the transformer is operational now. This same has also been reported by the Indian Express.
New MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath and Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia have also reacted to the incident, saying that the matter was resolved promptly.
India Today Fact Check Team found that the report of the incident by ABP News is misleading as it claims that the collector never met the distressed farmer and that the farmer's plea was related to his electricity connection being cut.
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