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New Delhi: The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is currently on the wrong side of misinformation about its budget allocation for celebrating ‘Deepotsava’ in Ayodhya, with not just social media but also traditional media misreporting the number.

Reports by many media outlets said the state government allocated Rs 133 crore for Diwali celebrations in Ayodhya. According to a report in The Times of India, the UP government set aside the aforementioned amount to light 5.5 lakh earthen lamps during ‘Deepotsav’ in Ayodhya on 26 October. The report added that the decision was taken in a cabinet meeting headed by the chief minister.

The Indian Express also reported the same figure for the ‘Deepotsava’ in a report with the headline, “Ayodhya Deepotsava gets ‘state fair’ status with 133 crore budget”. The report also mentioned that there will be an audit of the entire event, including the tableaux, to stop the misuse of state funds.

These reports found widespread echo on social media, with several users quoting the same figure.

Govt has crores of money to light up diyas which could be easily lit up for free, Govt has money to entertain #EUMPsInKashmir

Govt has crores to spent on exotic (non veg) food in the temple vicinity.

But no money n time to bail out #PMCBankCrisis victimshttps://t.co/ADK4XKf1lv — RiA D'Souza (@RiaRevealed) October 31, 2019

On Twitter, journalist and author Rahul Pandita slammed the allocation, sharing an image of a girl trying to collect oil from the lamps used in Ayodhya celebrations.

20,000 litre oil used to light up 500,000 earthen lamps in Ayodhya. Total cost: 133 crores. Here a poor girl trying to collect a little oil from these diyas to take home. Look at the fear in her eyes. Is this our idea of Ram Rajya? pic.twitter.com/5ysbGDTjwS — Rahul Pandita (@rahulpandita) October 29, 2019

The mistake

On 22 October, just a day ahead of the reports carried by these leading media outlets, the Yogi Adityanath government had issued a press release about the decisions taken by the state cabinet in the reported meeting chaired by the CM.

In its statement, the government said the estimated cost of the celebration in Ayodhya would be around Rs 132.7 lakh and the expenses would be taken care of by the administration depending on the availability of funds.

As seen, the figure was in ‘lakh’ but it ended up being widely misreported to be in ‘crore’.

The celebrations in Ayodhya went ahead as planned, with the government securing a Guinness World Record for the “largest display of oil lamps”, said an India Today report.

In collaboration with SM Hoax Slayer.

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