The coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and the nationwide lockwide announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curb the spread of deadly virus have proved to be a golden opportunity for people to disseminate fake news and misinformation.
One such fake news which is viral these days claims that https://ayushman-yojana.org is the official website of Ayushman Bharat Yojana. But the government has cautioned people against fake website being circulated in the name of Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aarogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) on social media and government’s official fact-checker, PIB Fact Check has tweeted saying that the website being circulated in WhatsApp messages as the official website of Ayushman Bharat Scheme is fake and the message is fradulent. The National Health Authority has made it clear that pmjay.gov.in is the only official website of AB-PMJAY.
Claim: Whatsapp message circulating claiming https://t.co/TG3v6LBJcw as official website of Ayushman Bharat Yojana#PIBFactCheck: False! The National Health Authority has clarified that https://t.co/tnUGezSd4B. is its only official website.
Check: https://t.co/k3Z7F4ksWC pic.twitter.com/RRrZKRcEJM
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) May 10, 2020
It is to be noted that NHA is the nodal agency for the implementation of AB-PMJAY. The NHA also tweeted, “It has come to our reference that the website https://ayushman-yojana.org/has been confusing to general public. Please note that the official website of @AyushmanNHA is https://pmjay.gov.in. and we own no other website.”
One more fake news which is viral these days claims that the Union government has prepared a three-week, 5-phase 'roadmap' to ease coronavirus restrictions in the country. But there is no truth in this claim and state-run Prasar Bharati News Services on Tuesday (May 12) clarified that the widely circulating message on WhatsApp is fake and fradulent and the roadmap is not made by Indian government but by some other country.
It may be recalled that the PIB has set up a dedicated unit in order to check the spread of fake news on social media during the coronavirus crisis, ‘PIBFactCheck’ team continuously monitors trending messages on social media platforms and conducts review of its contents to bust fake news.
