Fact Check: Child helpline 1098 does not collect leftover food

New Delhi (Vishvas News): A viral message on social media is claiming that “Prime Minister Modi has announced that if someone is hosting a party and food is left, people can call 1098. They would come to your home and collect all the leftover food.” Vishvas News found this claim to be fake in its investigation. 1098 Child Helpline does not collect leftover food.

What’s in the viral post?

A user named Jugal shared this message with us for the purpose of fact-checking on our Tipline Chatbot number +91 95992 99372. The message read “Good News: As announced by PM Modi – If you have a function/party in your house and a lot of food is being wasted, please call 1098 (Anywhere in India) – The Child Helpline people will collect the food… Please spread this message everywhere so that many children can be helped. Please don’t break this chain, helping hands are better than praying lips* Please share this in 4 groups It takes a few seconds to copy and paste the news and send it… *Thanks.”

On searching, we found that this claim is also quite viral on Facebook.

See the post here and its archived version here.

Investigation

Vishvas News first did a keyword search. We found an article in Business Standard published on July 16, 2018. According to the article, ‘The child helpline issued a clarification after multiple calls to collect the leftover food.’ The news read, “In a viral post it is being said that you can call 1098 to avoid wastage of leftover food after party, etc. It is not true. We are India’s only and most comprehensive Children’s Phone Emergency Outreach Service (1098) for children in need of care and protection. We don’t collect food.”

We also found a tweet on @CHILDLINE1098 regarding this. This tweet was posted on March 17, 2010. The tweet read, “RT Beware of a False Chain Mail says to call 1098 to dispose of leftover food. Our lines jam coz of this and children can’t get through us.”

RT Beware of a False Chain Mail says to call 1098 to dispose of leftover food. Our lines jam coz of this and children can't get through us.

— CHILDLINE (@CHILDLINE1098) March 17, 2010

In the next phase of the investigation, we contacted Childline India Foundation. Vikas Putharan, Head of Resource Mobilization, and Communications, Childline India Foundation said, “This is a fake message. Childline 1098 is a free emergency helpline for children in distress. We help children. We don’t collect leftover food.”

In the final phase of the investigation, Vishvas News did a social scanning of the profile that shared the viral message. 106 people follow Sanjay Kumar.

Conclusion: Vishvas News in its investigation found that child helpline 1098 does not collect leftover food. The viral message is fake.

Tags

• 1098
• Child Helpline
• Fact Check
• food
• Leftover