An ‘Office Memorandum’ in the name of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare is making rounds on social media with the claim that it declared holidays in the states Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim in the wake of COVID-19. Let’s check the authenticity of that Office Memorandum.
Claim: Office Memorandum of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare declaring holidays to the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim in the wake of COVID-19.
Fact: No, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare hasn’t declared holidays to the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Sikkim. The Office Memorandum with such information is ‘fake’. So, the claim is FALSE.
The Office Memorandum in the name of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has the date as 13 March 2020 and subject as ‘Clarification regarding declaration of holidays to the states’. In the memo, it was written that the Ministry of Health & Family has declared holidays to the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim from 14 March to 21 March as a measure to curb the spread of COVID-19.
When looked at the Twitter account of the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare to find if it has issued any Office memorandum declaring holidays to few states in the wake of COVID-19, a tweet regarding the memorandum was found.
However, the respective state governments of Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, and Gujarat have announced the closure of schools, colleges, and educational institutions in order to curb Covid-19. On 14 March, the Maharashtra government has announced that all the schools, colleges, and educational institutions in the state’s urban areas would be closed till 31 March. On 13 March, the state government of Uttar Pradesh has announced that all the schools, colleges, and educational institutions in the state would be closed till 22 March. On 15 March, the Gujarat state government has also announced that all the schools, colleges, and educational institutions
in the state would be closed till 28 March.
To conclude, the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare hasn’t issued any O.M. declaring holidays to the states of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Sikkim.
Did you watch our new video?