The claim of the temple being built at a cost of Rs 500 crore and the closure of 51,000 government schools in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh is misleading. Chandrodaya Temple of Vrindavan is not being constructed with government funding but with donations given by devotees. At the same time, the number of schools in the country keeps fluctuating on an annual basis. According to the UDISE report of 2018-19, more than 50,000 government schools were closed in the country, but there is no connection between the decline in schools and the temple being built in Vrindavan at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
New Delhi Vishvas News – A post on social media is going viral with claims that while a grand temple is being constructed in Vrindavan at a cost of Rs 500 crore, a decision has been taken to shut down 51,000 government schools across the country.
Vishvas News investigated the claims and determined that this claim was misleading. The under-construction Chandrodaya Temple in Vrindavan is a project of ISKCON and is being built with the collaborative efforts of devotees. Consequently, the comparison of temple construction and the closure of government schools in the viral post is both misleading and irrelevant.
While sharing the viral video, social media user ‘lmp352’ wrote, “The biggest and most grand temple will be built in Vrindavan at a cost of Rs 500 crore and 51000 government schools will be closed. This is how the country will become a world leader.” Many other users have shared it with similar claims.
During our investigation, the viral post did not mention the name of any temple. In a news search, we found many such reports that mentioned the construction of a temple in Vrindavan at a cost of about Rs 500 crore. According to a news report in Hindustan Times, published on July 20, 2016, the height of Chandrodaya Temple in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh, will be more than Qutub Minar and its construction is estimated to cost around Rs 700 crore.
This is also mentioned in many other reports. According to the report in Hindustan Times, the money for the construction will be raised from donations from devotees of Lord Krishna spread across the world and the International Society of Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) will oversee the construction process.
Detailed information about this temple project is available on the website of Vrindavan Chandrodaya Mandir. Vishvas News did not find any information related to the use of government money in the construction of this temple on the temple’s website or in any other news report.
This is not the first time that this claim has gone viral on social media platforms. Earlier in 2022, a similar claim had gone viral, which was fact-checked by Vishvas News. The full report can be read here.
For information about the temple’s funding, Vishvas News contacted the number given on its website. While talking to Vishvas News, Saurabh said, “Vrindavan Chandrodaya Temple is being constructed with the financial support of the devotees. Government has no role in this. The capital required for the construction of the temple is being raised through donations and devotees from all over the world are supporting it.” He said that any person can donate money through online or offline mode.
It is clear from our investigation that the temple mentioned in the viral post is the Chandrodaya Temple to be built in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh.
The second claim in the viral post is about the closure of 51,000 government schools. In a news search, we found many old reports, in which there is mention of the closure of schools. According to a report by The Telegraph, published in 2022, the number of government schools in the country declined by 51,000 between September 2018 and September 2019, while the number of private schools increased by about 3.6 per cent during the same period.
This report was based on government data. According to the data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus, the number of government schools in the country has decreased, while the number of private schools has increased. UDISE is a unit of the School Education Department, which provides data related to schools annually. Reports for the last several years regarding the number of schools and other trends can be accessed on the UDISE website.
Taking our investigation forward, we scrutinised the profile of the user who shared the misleading claim. The user who shared the viral post is followed by more than 100 people on Instagram.
Conclusion: The claim of the temple being built at a cost of Rs 500 crore and the closure of 51,000 government schools in Vrindavan, Uttar Pradesh is misleading. Chandrodaya Temple of Vrindavan is not being constructed with government funding but with donations given by devotees. At the same time, the number of schools in the country keeps fluctuating on an annual basis. According to the UDISE report of 2018-19, more than 50,000 government schools were closed in the country, but there is no connection between the decline in schools and the temple being built in Vrindavan at a cost of Rs 500 crore.
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