Free Laptops to Be Given by Govt to All Students in India? PIB Fact Check Debunks Fake News, Reveals Truth Behind Viral Text Message

New Delhi, December 16: A viral message is doing rounds on social media platforms claiming that the government is offering free laptops to all students. The fake message that is going viral, also shared a link of a website and asks students to register on the given link to avail the benefit. The claim states: "Government is giving free laptops to all the students in India. Register your number on the govt-laptop app to get a free laptop". The misleading information triggered confusion among students and parents.

Rubbishing the fake claims, a fact-check by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) states that there is no such scheme that has been announced by the government. The fact-check claimed that the website link that is being circulated is a fake one as the government is not running any such scheme of giving free laptops to students in the country.

Here's the tweet by PIB:

Earlier in September, an advertisement quoting the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) had gone viral claiming that students from Class 8 to Pre University Course (PUC) 1st year students will be given laptops at Rs 3,500 under the  'COVID-19 Online Education Purpose'. The post also asked students to share their documents including Aadhaar card of students and their parents, student's ID card and the contact details of their teachers.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 16, 2020 09:25 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).