CLAIM

Spent around 3000 crores but 0 on language translation. #ஸ்டேட்டுக்கேஒப்பியூனிட்டி feeling shame on Government for… https://t.co/jEA4jp9LsB — Soundar (@soundarselvam) 1540962093000

Why are Jana Sainiks defending the Modi Regime when I question on not including Telugu on the plaque for the Statue… https://t.co/WbKw0zjELk — Jay Galla (@JayGalla) 1540983799000

Where is kannada in this board? Have a doubt that whether it is statue of unity or statue of division!!"… https://t.co/yjJ6bsGhtM — Keerthan K (@keerthank2) 1540917998000

I am pained to see that Russian, Spanish, French & Mandarin made their way on #StatueOfUnity but my mother tongue O… https://t.co/alAFlNbROF — Niranjan Patnaik (@NPatnaikOdisha) 1540969749000

No Punjabi translation on 'Statue Of Unity' pedestal board Because the officials know well that the major tourist… https://t.co/8LKkD2cFIp — Sukhman Sandhu (@Superman_SANDHU) 1541047898000

So, the "Statue of Unity" name board with TAMIL typo is FAKE, a desperate attempt by Tamil separatist crooks got fl… https://t.co/jcFw7sk87h — Ethirajan Srinivasan (@Ethirajans) 1541052294000

@soundarselvam Fake Photo. There is no such board at all clarified by authorities of project. — Vasudeva Rao. Dasari (@dasarivasu1) 1541003608000

So it turns out that news about the image of signboard had wrong Tamil translation of ‘Statue of Unity’ is absolute… https://t.co/SlkLMehnM2 — Prasanna Viswanathan (@prasannavishy) 1541038115000

@bhagath_j_gowda @deepanagaraju @PMOIndia @narendramodi @BJPKarnataka sir FYKI https://t.co/SKnGLuDflt Fake sign b… https://t.co/CnxOXDzMOZ — Harish Andhavarapu (@hurai41184) 1541042762000

TRUTH

METHODOLOGY

#statueofunity #tamil #தமிழ் translation, statue of unity;ஒற்றுமை சிலை transliteration, statue of unity;ஸ்டாட்யூ ஆ… https://t.co/8uvHHzfAmC — vijayakumar ponniah (@vijayakumar1234) 1540920722000

VERIFICATION

VERDICT

Photographs of a name board that was installed near the Sardar Vallabhai Patel statue inaugurated on October 31 with ‘ Statue of Unity ’ written in ten different languages, including Spanish, French, Arabic, Hindi, Tamil etc. are going viral on social media.Since the photos started doing rounds before the inauguration of the statue, many social media users pointed out “gibberish” translations and spelling mistakes in what’s written in their native languages on the name board.Here’s a Tamil Twitter user raising the issue:TOI carried a report two days ago on this.There were also many social media users who seemed upset over officials missing out on other Indian languages and including writing foreign languages in the name board.Here’s what a Telugu Twitter user had to say -Kannada not being used in the name board did not go well with Kannadigas. Sample this -Niranjan Patnaik, president, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, said he was pained to see his mother tongue Odia not being there on the name board.Here’s a tweet from a Twitter user from Punjab.Meanwhile, there were many who tried to defend the Gujarat government by claiming that the information about incorrect spellings on the name board is fake.Many Twitter users based their claim of the plaque being fake on the basis of similar reports carried out by several news outlets.The name board with ‘Statue of Unity’ written in different languages is NOT fake news. Such a name board was indeed installed in the ‘Statue of Unity’ compound.Times Fact Check had been keeping a tab on this since the claims of the name board being fake began.We had taken a screenshot of a tweet from the official Twitter account of the office of Vijay Rupani, Gujarat chief minister -- @CMOGuj -- made on October 31, in which four photos from the Sardar Patel statue site was shared. The last photo was of the plaque with wrong translations.Here’s the fourth photo:It appears that the translation errors were caused as those in charge of putting up the signage decided to use transliteration tools available online instead of taking assistance from natives.Time Fact Check got in touch with Times Group reporter Kapil Dave, who in turn spoke to PC Vyas, Chief Engineer, Sardar Sarovar Narmada Nagar Limited, the state-run organization tasked with building the statue. Vyas confirmed that the name board was indeed present at the venue and said the translation mistakes happened as the people in charge were not well-versed with Tamil.“The work for the name board was outsourced. It was brought to our notice that there were mistakes in the translations and we removed the plaque. It will be reinstalled with correct translations. We are sorry about missing out on other Indian languages. The new name board will have all languages,” Vyas told Dave.Times Fact Check has found the claim that name board with wrong translations at Statue of Unity compound being fake, false. The name board with wrong translations was present, but was removed soon after the controversy broke.