Kolkata woman seen in housing ad with PM Modi lives in rented room with no washroom

Mangalore Today News Network

Kolkata, Mar 22, 2021:      In an advertisement in a few Kolkata newspapers on February 25, a photo of a Kolkata woman was used along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to showcase the success of the Centre’s Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).

 

The ad titled ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat, Atmanirbhar Bengal’ claimed that 24 lakh families have benefitted from the Centre’s scheme so far in West Bengal. “It is due to Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana that I have a house and a roof over my head,” the ad quoted the woman as saying.

India Today TV met the woman who identified herself as the one in the ad featuring PM Modi to find out if she indeed was allotted a house under the scheme as claimed in the advertisement.

 

कोलकाता की लक्ष्मी देवी को विज्ञापन में प्रधानमंत्री आवास योजना के तहत आवास मिला लेकिन हकीकत में रहती है किराए के घर में.#ReporterDiary #RE pic.twitter.com/p7rmVHSlhv

— AajTak (@aajtak) March 22, 2021

Lakshmi Devi, a resident of Malanga Lane in Bowbazar area of Kolkata, confirmed to India Today TV that she was indeed the woman pictured in newspapers. However, Lakshmi said that none of the claims attributed to her in the advertisement were true.

“The woman in the photo is me but I don’t have any knowledge about it [the ad].”

Contrary to the claims made in the ad, Lakshmi Devi said she never got a house under the central scheme.

“I stay with six others in a one-room rented accommodation in Bahubazar area for which we pay Rs 500 per month. While the kids sleep inside, we are forced to sleep outside on the footpath at night,” Lakshmi told India Today TV as she led the way to her small shanty that only had a bed and a refrigerator as furniture.

"We do not even have a washroom," Lakshmi added.

Reiterating that the claims of her getting a house were false, Lakshmi Devi said it was only after neighbours told her about the newspaper clipping that she learnt about the advertisement.

“I got scared when I saw my photo in the newspaper. I don’t know who took my photo and when,” she told India Today TV. Lakshmi said that the photo could have been taken during a mela in Babughat where she had been cleaning toilets.

She, however, said that no one approached her and asked for her permission to be photographed.

When asked if she had approached the BJP office, Lakshmi Devi said she hasn’t spoken with anyone from the party so far. “I haven’t spoken to them. I am illiterate and don’t understand any of this,” she said.

What has BJP said?

India Today TV approached BJP MP Arjun Singh seeking clarifications about the claims made in the advertisement, but he refused to comment on the matter.

Courtesy:India Today