Fact Check: FM Nirmala Sitharaman did not make this comment on Nilgiri Mountain Train, viral claim is fake

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A viral graphic plate of Puthiyathalaimurai, a Tamil language regional news channel allegedly quotes Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman saying, “Ooty train has been upgraded to International standards. If people can’t afford Rs 3,000 ticket fare, why should they wish to travel in train.”

Vishvas News investigation revealed the claim is fake. Puthiyathalaimurai web team refuted the claims saying they haven’t run any such news.

Claim

A viral graphic plate of Puthiyathalaimurai, a Tamil regional news channel allegedly quoted Finance Minister announcing Ooty train has been upgraded to international standards. She has been quoted asking why should be people wish to visit Ooty if they can’t afford Rs 3,000 ticket fare.
The archived version of the post can be seen here.

Investigation

While Vishvas News had recently debunked a rumour stating Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) has been privatised, we searched on the Internet for comments from Finance Minister.

We did not find any authentic news reports on FM’s comment as in the viral claim.

But we found a fake alert from official Facebook page of Puthiyathalaimurai stating the information in the viral picture is fake.

Vishvas News contacted Manoj Prabhakar, Puthiyathalaimurai web team incharge for verification. He refuted the claims saying the graphic plate has been edited. “The viral picture is fake. We have not run any such news quoting FM Nirmala Sitharaman,” said Prabhakar.

Social scanning of the Facebook user Thilagaraj who shared the viral claim revealed that he is from Chennai, Tamil Nadu and has 4,057 friends and 572 followers on Facebook.