A post with a video in which a man breaks down while addressing the press regarding the handling of COVID-19 by the government of Maharashtra is doing rounds on social media, with a claim that the man is Om Praksah Shete, OSD to the current Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray and also the head of the medical assistance cell. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: OSD to Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray breaks down during a press meet referring to the pathetic handling of COVID-19 by the government. He also heads the medical assistance cell.
Fact: News articles and videos referred him to as the former head of the Chief Minister’s medical assistance cell. The about section of his Facebook reads ‘Former O.S.D. to Cheif Minister, chief, C.M. medical asst cell’. Further, another news article states that he was OSD to former CM Devendra Fadnavis. With all this, we can say for sure that he is not OSD of the current CM Uddhav Thackeray. Hence the claim made in the post is FALSE.
Google search with the keywords ‘Om Prakash Shete press meet’ directed us to a tweet by Lokmat which reported the press conference. The tweet states Omprakash Shete as the former head of the Chief Minister’s Medical Assistance Cell. Also, a local news channel video of the press meet also quotes him as former medical aid cell head.
Further search led us to a news article which reported the PIL filed by Om Prakash Shete seeking benefits under the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Jan Arogya Yojana for all COVID-19 patients and not just for those on ventilators. Even this article refers to him as the former head of the Chief Minister’s Medical Assistance Cell. Screenshots of the PIL are displayed in a news video which can be seen here. Another news article which reported the press meet stated that he is OSD to former CM Devendra Fadnavis. Further, the about section of his Facebook account reads ‘Former O.S.D. To the Chief Minister, chief, C.M. medical asst cell’. With all this, we can conclude that Mr. Omprakash Shete is not OSD to current CM Uddhav Thackeray.
To sum it up, Om Prakash Shete, OSD to former Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis is being referred to as OSD to Uddhav Thackeray.
