The propagandists Doctor on X (formerly Twitter) going by the handle name The Liver Doc shared two screenshots mocking the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The first screenshot shows a newspaper clipping quoting PM Modi as saying he has promised to increase cervical cancer research during his next term.

The second screenshot shows a tweet by left-leaning media outlet The Wire, claiming that during the 92nd episode of his radio program Mann Ki Baat, PM Modi suggested that singing devotional songs (bhajan) was a way to address malnutrition.

Fact Check

At the beginning of the research we investigated Liver Doc’s claim and found it to be misleading. On the YouTube channel of Narendra Modi, we found the 92nd episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat.’

In the video, PM Modi had praised the successful implementation of ‘Mera Bachha Abhiyan’ running in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh. In the video, at 13:00 minutes, he said, “Can you imagine, can songs, music and bhajans also be used to address malnutrition? It was successfully used in “Mera Baccha Abhiyan” in Datia district of Madhya Pradesh. After this campaign, not only the attendance of children at Anganwadi centers increased but malnutrition also reduced.”

He further said, “During this campaign, bhajan kirtans took place in the district, in which teachers called nutrition gurus were also called. Matka program also took place, in which women come to the Anganwadi center with a handful of grains and the children feast is prepared on Saturday.”

Concluding the radio programme, the PM said that through public participation, success was achieved in eradicating malnutrition in the district through bhajan-kirtan, songs and music.

It is worth noting here that the Prime Minister has given the statement ‘Bhajan can be helpful in reducing malnutrition’ in the context of the “Mera Bachcha Abhiyan” being run in Datia district, and not in the context of his own opinion.

Use of bhajan kirtan in “Mera Bachcha Abhiyan”

Upon conducting additional research on the efficacy of bhajan kirtan “Mera Bachcha Abhiyaan” we found a video by Datia District Collector Sanjay Kumar posted on August 28, 2022. In this video, the Collector gave a memorandum of thanks in response to the Prime Minister’s appreciation of his own initiative.

In this statement, the Collector said that under the Nutrition Campaign, every Tuesday at Anganwadi Centers the Women and Child Development Department organizes Mangal Divas to combat malnutrition among children. The vegetables produced by the Poshan Vatika are also distributed to the families of malnourished children for consumption. Initiatives were taken to reduce malnutrition. The local community also had extended special support in this work. The result of which was that there was a significant improvement in the health of extremely underweight children and the attendance of children increased.

He further said that local folk singing and troupes can be used effectively to convey the message in the experiments conducted to remove malnutrition. For this the Prime Minister has congratulated and expressed happiness that this type of experiment can be done in the field of malnutrition and in other areas because folk singing and bhajan groups can reach the hearts and minds of the local people very easily and easily in an entertaining and engaging manner.

The Collector said that “Mera Bachcha Abhiyan” has been started to provide nutrition to malnourished children in Datia district. Apart from many other measures, there is a bhajan group of local men and women, they sing folk songs and make parodies of their earlier songs to convey the message of importance of good nutrition and eradication of malnutrition, which has been appreciated by the Prime Minister.

The campaign has received the Prime Minister’s Excellence Award

In the direction of reducing malnutrition through public participation under an innovative “Mera Bachcha Abhiyaan” in the year 2021-22 under the Nutrition Campaign, collector Sanjay Kumar in Datia district was awarded an Excellence award by PM Narendra Modi on April 21, 2022.

Conclusion: In the context of the entire statement of Datia Collector Sanjay Kumar and PM Narendra Modi, it became clear that the Prime Minister had mentioned bhajan kirtan to create awareness among the local people under the nutrition campaign ‘Mera Bachcha Abhiyan.’

The Prime Minister’s statement was first deliberately misinterpreted by The Wire when the 92nd episode of Mann Ki Baat was released in 2022.

Click here to read about our fact check report debunking The Wire’s misleading claim that PM Modi had said organizing bhajans could be the solution to reducing malnutrition.

(The article was published on Onlyfact.in on April 01, 2024 and has been reproduced here)