Did Rahul Gandhi announce contradictory figures as part of minimum income scheme?

A claim viral on social media suggests that Rahul Gandhi, during his press conference regarding the minimum income guarantee scheme, promised Rs 12,000 per month to the poor, but said that Rs 72,000 will be deposited in their accounts every year. Mocking the Congress President’s math, several individual users and pages on social media raised questions on the remaining Rs 72,000.

Among those at the forefront of making the assertion was a former officer of the Indian airforce and an incumbent BJP member, Major Surendra Poonia (archive). At the time of writing this article, the video of Rahul Gandhi shared by Poonia received nearly 45,000 views and 6,000 retweets.

#MinimumIncomeGuarantee योजना की गणित देखो
12,000/महीना देने का वादा
12,000×12=1,44000/साल का
फिर कहते है की हर ग़रीब के अकाउंट में साल में 72,000 रुपये आ जायेंगे

बाक़ी 72,000 कहाँ जायेंगे🤔?
अपनी जेब में या Swish बैंक में

राहुलजी गणित सीख लो🙏देश @narendramodi जी चला लेंगे pic.twitter.com/T3vdG7negp

— Major Surendra Poonia (@MajorPoonia) March 25, 2019

Another Twitter handle @narendramodi177 also shared the video that drew over 20,000 views (archive).

The footage consists of two clips where, in the one on the left, Gandhi can be heard saying – “मैं ये आपको, हिंदुस्तान की जनता को, हिंदुस्तान के गरीबो से कहना चाहता हु की लाइन 12,000 रुपए महीने की होगी. (I want to tell you, India’s citizens, India’s poor that the line will be Rs 12,000 per month.)”

In the clip on the right, the Congress President says, “बीस प्रतीशत सबसे गरीब परिवारों को हर साल बहत्तर हज़ार रूपए देने जा रही है. (20% of the poorest families will receive Rs 72,000 per year.)” The video was created by a Facebook page Nation Wants NaMo (archive).

Clipped video

The video viral on social media has been created by clipping parts of Rahul Gandhi’s March 25 press briefing on the minimum income guarantee scheme. The complete video reveals that the Congress President did not say that Rs 12,000 per month will be given to the poor and this amounts to Rs 72,000 a year.

He, in fact, said that the individuals with income below Rs 12,000 will be the beneficiaries of the scheme, receiving a maximum of Rs 72,000 per year in their bank accounts.

At 0:54 seconds in the complete video, Gandhi says, “जहा भी मैं जाता हु युवा, जनता, किसान, मज़दूर मुझसे पूछते है की ये आमदनी की लाइन, मिनिमम आमदनी की लाइन क्या होगी और इस स्कीम की स्ट्रेंथ क्या होगी, ये स्कीम कितने लोगो की मद्दत करेगी. तो मैं ये आपको, हिंदुस्तान की जनता को, हिंदुस्तान के गरीबो से कहना चाहता हु की लाइन 12,000 रुपए महीने की होगी। (Wherever I go, the youth, citizens, farmer and labourers ask me what will be the income line, what will be the minimum income line and what will be the strength of the scheme, how many people will benefit from it? I want to tell you, India’s citizens, India’s poor that the line will be Rs 12,000 per month.)”

At 1:43 minutes during the speech, he further says, “कांग्रेस पार्टी…गारंटी करती है की २० प्रतीशत सबसे गरीब परिवारों को हर साल बहत्तर हज़ार रूपए देने जा रही है . (Congress party will guarantee that 20% of the poorest families will receive Rs 72,000 per year.)”

The Congress President also explains the scheme a little more in dept at 5:48 minutes in the complete video – “मिनिमम इनकम लाइन 12000 रुपए की है. मिनिमम इनकम लाइन और उनकी जो इनकम में फर्क है वो सर्कार देगी. तो मान लो अगर आपकी इनकम 6000 है तो जो 12000 से इनकम कम है आपकी उसको टॉप अप करेगी. (The minimum income line will be Rs 12,000. The government will provide the difference between the minimum income line and the income of a person. For instance, if your income is Rs 6,000, the government will top up the income that falls below Rs 12,000).” This means that Congress aims to bring up the monthly income of every individual to Rs 12,000. If a person makes Rs 6,000 a month, the party, if it comes to power, guarantees to bear the remaining Rs 6,000. The limit on the maximum cash that the government will dispense is Rs 72,000 a year.

Social media claims mocking Rahul Gandhi’s math are, thus, based on a misleading video. The Congress President has often been similarly targetted online with the use of morphed clips and photoshopped images.