Fact Check: This picture of Jawaharlal Nehru with a tribal woman has no relation to Bhabha Atomic Plant

New Delhi (Vishvas News). A picture of the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru is going viral on various platforms of social media. In this, a tribal woman can also be seen rotating the handle of a lever. Social media users are making this picture viral saying that Nehru ji got the Bhabha Atomic Plant inaugurated by a tribal woman. Vishvas News investigated the viral post. It proved to be misleading. Actually the picture is from Panchet Dam in Dhanbad. In December 1959, along with Nehru, a tribal woman Budhni was also present at the inauguration of the power house of Panchet Dam.

What is going viral

Facebook page Priyanka Gandhi Fans Club shared a photo on May 31 and wrote that Nehru was like this. A tribal woman can also be seen with Nehru in the photo. The description reads: ‘Nehru ji was like this! BHABHA ATOMIC PLANT BEING INAUGURATED BY AN ADIVASI LADY.’

Many other users have also shared this with a similar claim. The content of the Facebook post has been rewritten for the purpose of a fact check. Its archived version can be viewed here.

Investigation

Vishvas News started its investigation by uploading the image to Google reverse image tool. We found the viral picture on many websites. The viral image was used in a review of a book on The Hindu’s website on 12 June 2021. It was written in the caption of this picture “Budhni with Nehru at the inauguration of the power station at Panchet Dam.” The picture was taken in December 1959. It was clear that the picture has nothing to do with Bhabha Plant. This picture is of Panchet Dam built in Dhanbad, Jharkhand. The full news can be read here.

After this, we searched about Panchet Dam. According to the official website of Dhanbad district, Panchet dam was built across Damodar river in Panchet area of ​​Dhanbad district in Jharkhand. It was inaugurated in 1959. More information about the dam can be read by clicking here.

During the search, we came to know that Bhabha Atomic Plant was inaugurated in Mumbai on 16 January 1961. It was inaugurated by Jawaharlal Nehru. A picture related to this can be seen here.

Vishvas News contacted Mrityunjay Pathak, a senior journalist of Dainik Jagran, Dhanbad, to take the investigation forward. We shared the viral post with him. He told us that “this picture was taken during the inauguration of Panchet Dam in Dhanbad. The name of the woman seen in the picture is Budhni.”