Modi suffers embarrassment over I-Day claim on village electrification, as PIB under him issues "denial"

Photo tweeted by Modi of Nagla Fatela villagers

By A Representative
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has suffered a major embarrassment when the Government of India's Press Information Bureau (PIB) was forced to issue a statement which virtually amounted to denying Modi's claim in his Independence Day speech that a village near Delhi, Nagla Fatela, received electricity under him 70 years after Independence.
Modi, in his Independence Day speech had said that, over the last one year, out of 18,000 villages, more than 10,000 villages had been electrified, and one of them was village of Nagla Fatela, which "is only three hours from Delhi, but it took more than 70 years for it to get electricity."
He added, "I have been told they are with us, watching this celebration of Independence Day”. His official twitter handle, @PMOIndia went so far as to post a photograph sayig, “People of Nagla Phatela watching the Independence Day celebrations for the first time. More power to them. :)”
A Finance Express story, on the very next day, found that there was no such thing, even as quoting the gram pradhan of the village refuting Modi's claim saying that pictures tweeted by Modi, and thereafter by Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal were "not of their village and no programme was organized in the village on Independence Day."

Power Minister's tweet remains intact

“No programme was organized in our village. The picture with children watching the Independence Day programme does not belong to our village,” the village pradhan said. The report quoted "people in the village" as saying that that "poles have been set up and electricity metres have been installed in the houses but there is no power supply."
The PIB was forced to come up with a statement, titled "Electrification of Village Nagla Fatela, Hathras -Facts at a Glance", only confirming FE report. It said, the village in Hathras district of UP "was proposed by the Uttar Pradesh Government under 12th plan of Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for this purpose was submitted through State Level Steering committee, headed by Chief Secretary of the State on date July 13, 2013."
"For this village, the Detailed Project Report (DPR) proposed connections to all households including creation of infrastructure one transformer of 63kVA, four transformers of 25kVA, HT 1.57 km, LT 1.54 km (three phase) and LT 0.62 km (single phase)", the PIB continued.
"The DPR was sanctioned by Government of India on December 20, 2013 and sanction letter was released by Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) on January 6, 2014", the PIB said, adding, the power distribution company (DISCOM, Agra), "confirmed on February 26, 2015 that village Nagla Fatela is still un-electrified."
The PIB further said, DISCOM Agra, "reported in October 2015 that infrastructure work for electrification of the village Nagla Fatela has been completed and the village has been electrified. Accordingly the village has been shown as electrified" in official records.
While PMO deleted its tweet which showed a photo of group of people allegedly from Nagla Fatela village and watching his speech on a TV set, Goyal, the power minister, has not (click HERE).
Goyal, in fact, went further and tweeted not one but several photos of allegedly from the same village showing people watching Independence Day celebrations claiming that they were in the newly electrified villages.
A top site comments, "From the PIB clarification, it is abundantly clear that not only did the Prime Minister make a false claim on his achievement, his government had also not played any part even in the process to create infrastructure to electrify Nagla Fatela village."

Comments

From Kerala to Bangladesh: Lynching highlights deep social faultlines

By A Representative The recent incidents of mob lynching—one in Bangladesh involving a Hindu citizen and another in Kerala where a man was killed after being mistaken for a “Bangladeshi”—have sparked outrage and calls for accountability.

Gram sabha as reformer: Mandla’s quiet challenge to the liquor economy

By Raj Kumar Sinha* This year, the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj is organising a two-day PESA Mahotsav in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, on 23–24 December 2025. The event marks the passage of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act, 1996 (PESA), enacted by Parliament on 24 December 1996 to establish self-governance in Fifth Schedule areas. Scheduled Areas are those notified by the President of India under Article 244(1) read with the Fifth Schedule of the Constitution, which provides for a distinct framework of governance recognising the autonomy of tribal regions. At present, Fifth Schedule areas exist in ten states: Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana. The PESA Act, 1996 empowers Gram Sabhas—the village assemblies—as the foundation of self-rule in these areas. Among the many powers devolved to them is the authority to take decisions on local matters, including the regulation...

When a city rebuilt forgets its builders: Migrant workers’ struggle for sanitation in Bhuj

Khasra Ground site By Aseem Mishra* Access to safe drinking water and sanitation is not a privilege—it is a fundamental human right. This principle has been unequivocally recognised by the United Nations and repeatedly affirmed by the Supreme Court of India as intrinsic to the right to life and dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. Yet, for thousands of migrant workers living in Bhuj, this right remains elusive, exposing a troubling disconnect between constitutional guarantees, policy declarations, and lived reality.

Policy changes in rural employment scheme and the politics of nomenclature

By N.S. Venkataraman* The Government of India has introduced a revised rural employment programme by fine-tuning the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which has been in operation for nearly two decades. The MGNREGA scheme guarantees 100 days of employment annually to rural households and has primarily benefited populations in rural areas. The revised programme has been named VB-G RAM–G (Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission – Gramin). The government has stated that the revised scheme incorporates several structural changes, including an increase in guaranteed employment from 100 to 125 days, modifications in the financing pattern, provisions to strengthen unemployment allowances, and penalties for delays in wage payments. Given the extent of these changes, the government has argued that a new name is required to distinguish the revised programme from the existing MGNREGA framework. As has been witnessed in recent years, the introdu...

Aravalli at the crossroads: Environment, democracy, and the crisis of justice

By Rajendra Singh* The functioning of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change has undergone a troubling shift. Once mandated to safeguard forests and ecosystems, the Ministry now appears increasingly aligned with industrial interests. Its recent affidavit before the Supreme Court makes this drift unmistakably clear. An institution ostensibly created to protect the environment now seems to have strayed from that very purpose.

Making rigid distinctions between Indian and foreign 'historically untenable'

By A Representative Oral historian, filmmaker and cultural conservationist Sohail Hashmi has said that everyday practices related to attire, food and architecture in India reflect long histories of interaction and adaptation rather than rigid or exclusionary ideas of identity. He was speaking at a webinar organised by the Indian History Forum (IHF).

'Structural sabotage': Concern over sector-limited job guarantee in new employment law

By A Representative The advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability (CFA) has raised concerns over the passage of the Viksit Bharat – Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (VB–G RAM G), which was approved during the recently concluded session of Parliament amid protests by opposition members. The legislation is intended to replace the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).

'Festive cheer fades': India’s housing market hits 17‑quarter slump, sales drop 16% in Q4 2025

By A Representative Housing sales across India’s nine major real estate markets fell to a 17‑quarter low in the October–December period of 2025, with overall absorption dropping 16% year‑on‑year to 98,019 units, according to NSE‑listed analytics firm PropEquity. This marks the weakest quarter since Q3 2021, despite the festive season that usually drives demand. On a sequential basis, sales slipped 2%, while new launches contracted by 4%.

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor* This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.

Search This Blog