The New Indian Express published a fake news Sunday claiming the insurance policy announced last year for the frontline health workers has been “quietly withdrawn” by the Union government.
The news was published on the website Sunday night.
It was quickly spread by the social media influencers claiming how insensitive the government was.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had already put out a series of tweets Sunday afternoon detailing how the prevailing insurance policy would be in place till April 24 and thereafter a new policy will provide the cover.
The frontline health workers are provided a cover of INR 50 lakh under the existing scheme. The insurance policy was announced by the Union government in March last year.
The ministry wrote in a tweet, “The Scheme has played a crucial psychological role in boosting the morale of the Health Workers fighting #Covid19.”
It added, “ The claims under PMGKP will be settled by the Insurance Company till 24th of April 2021. Thereafter a new dispensation will be provided to cover the Corona Warriors, for which the Ministry is in talks with the Insurance Company (New India Assurance).”
The Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package (PMGKP) is the name of the scheme which provides the insurance cover.
What surprised many is the fact that the fake news did not come from an anonymous source but was published by a mainstream newspaper. And social media influencers, in a hurry, started spreading the news.
Many times since March last year, the government has been requesting people to be very careful in sharing news as it can spread panic.
