Authors
Vijayalakshmi leads our Tamil team. She’s worked in the media industry for more than eight years. This includes her work as a senior correspondent for Times Now before joining Newschecker. She turned to fact-checking to create awareness around misinformation through her writing.
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
Claim
Renovation work undertaken at the Cuttack government hospital ahead of PM Modi’s arrival to meet the victims of the Odisha train accident.
Fact
Images from 2022, showing renovation work at Morbi hospital ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the site of the deadly triple-train collision and met the victims of the collision admitted in the hospitals last week. Now, a set of images showing the renovation work purportedly at the Cuttack Government hospital, where the accident victims are being treated, ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit has surfaced on social media platforms.
Multiple Twitter users shared the two photograph claiming, “On an account of PM’s Arrival, renovation process in going on in a full swing at #Cuttack government hospital…” Newschecker found the claim to be untrue.
Archived versions of such tweets can be seen here, here and here.
Also Read: Old Video From Hyderabad Shared To Show CCTV Footage Of Train Accident In Odisha
Fact Check/Verification
A reverse image search on the viral photographs led us to a report by Outlook, dated November 1, 2022, titled ‘Gujarat: Painting, Cleaning Before PM Modi’s Visit As Hospital Tries To Hide Facts.’
The report carried the viral photographs with the caption, “Painting going on inside Morbi Civil Hospital in Gujarat ahead of PM Modi’s visit.”
A suspension bridge collapsed in Morbi district of Gujarat on October 30, 2022, leading to the death of at least 130 people. PM Modi had visited the victims injured in the collapse at the government hospital in Morbi. Ahead of his visit, the hospital was reportedly revamped. The viral images are from the said incident.
Also Read: Cropped Image Of ISKCON Temple Near Odisha Train Accident Site Viral With False Communal Claim
The Congress had also called out the face-lift given to the Morbi hospital ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit. The party had shared the viral images and stated, “Catastrophic Event. Tomorrow PM Modi will visit Morbi Civil Hospital. Before that the painting work is going on there. Shining tiles are being installed. All arrangements are being made to ensure that there is no deficiency in the picture of PM Modi. They are not ashamed! So many people died and they are engaged in eventing. (translated from Hindi via Google)”
The AAP had also criticised the renovation work at the hospital ahead of the Prime Minister’s visit.
However, the hospital authorities later claimed that the renovation was a routine work.
Multiple other outlets such as India Today and National Herald had also reported on the same.
Also Read: 2018 Incident Of Udupi Man Averting Train Accident Falsely Linked To Odisha Tragedy
Conclusion
We could thus conclude that old images from Morbi have been falsely shared to show renovation work at Cuttack hospital ahead of PM Modi’s visit to meet the victims of the Odisha train tragedy. The images are from October 2022, and show the Morbi government hospital being given a facelift ahead of the PM’s visit.
Result: False
Sources
Report By Outlook, Dated November 1, 2022
Tweet By @INCIndia, Dated October 31, 2022
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Authors
Vijayalakshmi leads our Tamil team. She’s worked in the media industry for more than eight years. This includes her work as a senior correspondent for Times Now before joining Newschecker. She turned to fact-checking to create awareness around misinformation through her writing.
Vasudha noticed the growing problem of mis/disinformation online after studying New Media at ACJ in Chennai and became interested in separating facts from fiction. She is interested in learning how global issues affect individuals on a micro level. Before joining Newschecker’s English team, she was working with Latestly.
Pankaj Menon is a fact-checker based out of Delhi who enjoys ‘digital sleuthing’ and calling out misinformation. He has completed his MA in International Relations from Madras University and has worked with organisations like NDTV, Times Now and Deccan Chronicle online in the past.
