Video of DTC personnel complaining about lack of social distancing in Delhi bus is from March

On May 18, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced that bus services in the capital will resume but only 20 passengers will be allowed at a time. He said that the government has to slowly move towards the opening of the economy amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Now, a video of a person complaining about lack of social distancing in a bus is being shared on social media. In the video, the man standing in a crowded bus asks who will be held accountable if they get infected. “DM hoga..(incomprehensible)…Kejriwal hoga? Is there any answer?” he questions.

BJP Delhi tweeted the video on May 19 taking a jibe at Delhi CM — ” Kejriwal, you said that you will make sure that there are not more than 20 people in a bus at a time. Why do you want to get [these] people killed, Chief Minister, give [us] the answer”. The tweet has garnered more than 1,300 shares so far.

केजरीवाल जी, आपने तो कहा था कि आप सुनिश्चित करेंगे कि बस में 20 से ज़्यादा लोग एक समय में यात्रा ना करें। क्यों लोगों को मरवाना चाहते हो मुख्यमंत्री जी, जवाब दो!
ये कैसा मुख्यमंत्री है जिसे जनता की जान की कोई फ़िक्र ही नहीं है! pic.twitter.com/SYel2FuI2m

— BJP Delhi (@BJP4Delhi) May 19, 2020

West Delhi BJP MP Parvesh Singh Sahib too tweeted the video and took potshots at the Delhi Chief Minister. “Arvind Kejriwal said that he will make sure that there will be only 20 people on the bus. Who will be responsible for this?” wrote Parvesh Singh Sahib. It was retweeted more than 6,700 times.

बधाई हो उन सबको जिन्होंने केजरीवाल को मुख्यमंत्री बनाया, जिस मुख्यमंत्री को अपने नागरिकों की जान से ज़्यादा Gst की पड़ी है। @ArvindKejriwal ने कहा था कि वो सुनिश्चित करेंगे की हर बस में 20 लोग ही रहेंगे। इसका ज़िम्मेदार कौन होगा ? pic.twitter.com/ivfzdGJQ2D

— Parvesh Sahib Singh (@p_sahibsingh) May 19, 2020

On May 19, Congress leader Ajay Maken also posted the video with the message, “Results were obvious today. Stranded passengers at DTC stops & the buses full.”

Fact-check

We found a tweet by Delhi-based journalist Jatin Anand where he informed that the video was posted on DTC Karamchari Ekta Union’s WhatsApp group on March 27, 2020.

This video was actually shared by the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union on its whatsapp group at 9:04 pm on March 27, 2020 https://t.co/Y54sWLNfFv pic.twitter.com/aomYEZBcws

— Jatin Anand (@JatinPaul) May 19, 2020

Based on the information, we contacted a member of the WhatsApp group. The member who did not wish to be named sent us a video recording of a conversation on WhatsApp group – DTC Karamchari Media Group – to confirm that the video was posted on March 27, 2020. In the video posted below, one can see that the timestamp of the video says it was sent on the group at 9:04 PM on March 27.

A screenshot from the WhatsApp group can be seen below.

We then spoke to the President of DTC Karamchari Ekta Union Manoj Sharma. In a conversation with Alt News, Sharma said, “The man in the video is a Delhi Civil Defence personnel and the people in the video are migrants who are being transported to Anand Vihar ISBT. The video is from March.”

Thus, it is certain that the video of a Delhi Civil Defence personnel complaining about the lack of social distancing in a bus in Delhi is close to two months old and unrelated to the recent announcement by the Delhi government to ease the lockdown.

However, a video of passengers standing outside a bus and clearly flouting social distancing norms at Sultanpuri Bus Terminal has emerged on social media. On May 20, Delhi’s transport minister Kailash Gehlot said that strict action will be taken against bus marshals, drivers and conductors of DTC if they fail to implement the rules of social distancing and other safety norms in buses.

The decision of allowing buses to operate in #Delhi in the midst of the #CoronavirusPandemic during #lockdown4 clearly needs a rethink; this video shared by the DTC Karamchari Ekta Union from the Sultanpuri Bus Terminal this morning says enough https://t.co/twvZ4ymxEA pic.twitter.com/BN4r0rhKnE

— Jatin Anand (@JatinPaul) May 20, 2020