Social media users are sharing a screenshot of a newspaper that shows an advertisement supposedly from the Delhi government asking for coal donation amid the energy crisis. The text embedded reads, “बिजली की कमी दूर करने के लिए कोयला दान देकर दिल्ली सरकार की मदद करें” (Which translates in English as, “Help Delhi government to deal with electricity crisis by donating coal.”)
India is dealing with coal crisis due to which many states including the national capital, Delhi is fearing blackout.
The image is being shared with various captions all hinting Delhi government is asking people to donate coal amid the coal crisis.
A Twitter user shared the screenshot with caption that reads, “बिजली की कमी दूर करने के लिए दिल्ली वासी अपने घरों का कोयला दान करें!! जितने पैसे इस advertisment पे खर्च किया है घुँघरू शेठ, उतने में तो तू कोयला ख़रीद लेता तो तुझे यूँ भीख नहीं मगन पड़ता” (Which translates in English as, “To overcome the shortage of electricity, people of Delhi donate coal from their homes. The amount of money spent on this advertisement, Ghungroo Sheth, if you would have bought coal, you would not have been begging like this.”)
The link to the post can be seen here and its archive can be seen here.
Another Facebook user shared the post which can be seen here and archive can be seen here.
Similar posts can be seen here, here, and here.
FactO Check:
On closely observing, we found that ‘SATIRE’ was written on the bottom right corner of the image. Further magnifying the image, we found that the date mentioned in the newspaper was July 15, 2021 and it was of Muzzafarpur edition. Muzaffarpur is a district in Bihar.
Taking a cue and searching for the Hindustan paper of July 15, 2021, Muzaffarpur edition, we found that the original newspaper had an advertisement by Delhi government announcing ex-gratia to the family of COVID-19 victims.
Conclusion: A morphed image went viral with fake claim that Delhi government is asking people to donate coal amid coal crisis.