Media report on Chhatisgarh woman doubling income stirs hornets' nest

New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): Union Minister Rajyavardhan Rathore on Monday rubbished claims of a media organisation which reported that a Chattisgarh woman was tutored to make false claims about doubling of her agriculture revenue during an interaction with PM Modi.

Chandramani Kaushik, who hails from Chhattisgarh, in an online interaction with Prime Minister Modi said that her agricultural income doubled after she switched from cultivating paddy to ('sitafal') custard apple farming.

ABP News, a leading Hindi national channel in it's report claimed that officials from Delhi had arrived in Kanker district of Chhattisgarh to tutor Chandramani Kaushik, before her interaction with PM Modi, to falsely claim paddy cultivation had increased her income two fold.

This report was shared widely on Twitter, with most being negative to the Government. Congress President Rahul Gandhi jumped on the bandwagon as well, retweeting the report.

However the tables turned when the facts of the story began to emerge. Unedited video footage of Chandramani Kaushik emerged where she reiterated what she said during her interaction with PM Modi...the shift to Custard apple farming doubled her income not paddy farming. This fact found no mention in the channel's report.

Expressing angst over the report, Rathore slammed the media organisation and questioned its journalistic ethics.

Kaushik in her clarification said, "They (the TV channel) are saying that I was referring to paddy, but I had said that my income had doubled because of 'sitafal' farming."

"I got to know about this (the controversy) from sarpanch ji, that my speech has been misquoted. Whatever I told the Prime Minister was true; no one from Delhi scripted my statement; this is wrong," asserted Kaushik.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Raman Singh also lambasted the media organisation for maligning the image of Prime Minster Modi.

Last month, Kaushik while interacting with Prime Minister Modi told him that paddy farming did not earn her much profit, which is why she started cultivating custard apple.

"We started working on that project. It used to yield Rs 50-60 per 25 kg. We then got associated with 'Krishi ATMA (Agriculture Technology Management Agency)' yojana and our income jumped from Rs 50 to Rs 700," Kaushik said.

Prime minister Modi then questioned about growth in her income to which responded, "It has doubled, sir."

ANI reached out to Editors of ABP news but have not received any comment so far on this story. The story will be updated if answers are received.(ANI)

This story has not been edited. It has been published as provided by ANI