RTI query reveals that PM Modi himself bears his kitchen and clothing expenses - FACTLY
Sai Krishna Muthyanolla
May 27, 2022
A social media post that make multiple claims about Prime Minister Modi’s expenses on food, clothing and health is being shared widely. The viral post claims that Modi eats mushrooms imported from Taiwan everyday that cost Rs. 80,000 and his clothes cost around 8-10 lakhs and that these clothes have his name on them. Further, the post claims that Modi undergoes full body checkup every day. Through this article let’s fact-check the claim made in the post.
Claim: Modi eats mushrooms imported from Taiwan that cost Rs. 80,000 ; his clothes cost around 8-10 lakhs ; he undergoes full body checkup every day.
Fact: RTI queries revealed that Prime Minister Modi himself bears his kitchen and clothing expenses which means information related to his clothing and food costs are unlikely to be in the public domain unless he disclosed them. However, we could not find reports of Modi disclosing these details. On the other hand according to a news reports, Modi undergoes medical check-up once in every three months. Hence the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
Modi eats Mushrooms imported from Taiwan :
Back in 2017, at the time of Gujarat Assembly elections, OBC leader and the then Congress candidate Alpesh Thakor made these allegations against Modi. Addressing a public gathering, Thakor alleged that ‘Modi eats mushrooms from Taiwan, one mushroom costs Rs 80 thousand & he eats 5 mushrooms a day. He was dark like me, but he became fair because of imported mushrooms.’
#WATCH Modi Ji eats mushrooms from Taiwan, one mushroom costs Rs 80 thousand & he eats 5 mushrooms a day. He was dark like me but he became fair because of imported mushrooms: Alpesh Thakor, activist & Congress leader #GujaratElection2017 pic.twitter.com/jh5QPN27SD
However, Thakur’s comments are considered as mere speculations as they are not backed by any evidence. In fact, some RTI queries and responses related PM Modi are available on pmindia.gov.in. One such RTI response revealed that Modi himself bears the cost of his food and that this cost is not incurred on government account.
Since Modi bears the expenses, it unlikely that the information related to his kitchen expenses are available in public domain, unless he discloses it. However, we could not find any reports of Modi revealing his food expenses.
Modi’s clothes cost around 8-10 lakhs :
According to a 2018 news report, an RTI query revealed that Prime Minister Modi spends on his own clothing and the government does not bear any expenses in this regard. Hence, it is unlikely that information related to his clothing is available in public domain.
Narendra Modi’s clothing has been in the news every now and then. In the past, many allegations were made about Modi & his clothing choices. Delhi CM Kejriwal claimed that the dress Modi wears would cost around two lakhs.
In 2016, a suit worn by Modi entered Guinness World Records as the most expensive suit auctioned ever, as a Surat man bought the suit for Rs 4.3 crore. The specialty of the suit is that ‘its stripes were made of repetitions of a single motif : the Prime Minister’s name, Narendra Damodardas Modi.
It was stitched by Jade Blue, an Ahmedabad-based garments chain and reportedly cost Rs. 10 lakhs to make. Most likely, this news could be the source of the viral claim made in the post. However, as mentioned above, expenses incurred on Modi’s clothing are not in the public domain.
Modi undergoes full body checkup every day :
We could not find any official information or news reports that state Modi undergoes health check-up every day.  However, according to a 2014 news report, the Prime Minister Modi undergoes a medical check-up every three months.
To sum it up, Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself bears his kitchen and clothing expenses. Claims made in this post  have no basis.