Centre ready with 5-phase `roadmap` to ease coronavirus COVID-19 restrictions? PIB`s fact check

The outbreak of coronavirus COVID-19 and the nationwide lockwide announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to curb the spread of deadly virus have proved to be a fertile breeding ground for different types of fake news and misinformation.

One such fake news which is viral these days claims that the Union government has prepared a three-week, 5-phase 'roadmap' to ease coronavirus restrictions in the country. But there is no truth in this claim and state-run Prasar Bharati News Services on Tuesday (May 12) clarified that the widely circulating message on WhatsApp is fake and fradulent and the roadmap is not made by Indian government but by some other country.

"Claim: A so-called 3-week, 5-phase "roadmap", purportedly made by the Government, to ease #COVID19 India restrictions is being circulated on Whatsapp. This roadmap is not made by our Government, but by that of some other country," tweeted PIB.

Few days ago, it was claimed on social media that Department of Telecom is giving free internet to all users till May, 3, 2020, when lockdown is scheduled to end, to enable them to work from home.

But there was no truth in this claim and state-run Prasar Bharati News Services had clarified that the claim was fake and the link is fradulent.

It may be recalled that the PIB has set up a dedicated unit in order to check the spread of fake news on social media during the coronavirus crisis, ‘PIBFactCheck’ team continuously monitors trending messages on social media platforms and conducts review of its contents to bust fake news.