By Nidhi Jacob
A video claiming that the Union government is providing an allowance of Rs 3,000 per month to the unemployed youth of India under the "Pradhan Mantri Berojgari Bhatta Yojana" is being widely shared on social media platforms. This is misleading. The Union government does not provide a nationwide scheme under the said title.
BOOM found that the video was created by Arvind Arora, whose verified YouTube channel named "A2 Motivation by Arvind Arora" has 17.2 million subscribers. The video outlines specific eligibility criteria for applying to the alleged scheme, urging unemployed individuals in the country to submit applications to avail the benefits offered by the programme.
BOOM received a request to verify this video on our helpline.
Fact-check
BOOM checked Union government websites and Press Information Bureau (PIB) reports to verify the claim. We did not find any official website run by Union government with the name "Pradhan Mantri Berojgari Bhatta Yojana" providing monthly unemployment allowances to the youth of the country.
While the Union government does not not have a nationwide unemployment scheme titled "Pradhan Mantri Berojgari Bhatta Yojana", states such as Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal, among others, have similar schemes for unemployed youths in their respective states.
While explaining the registration process for the scheme, the viral video displays the website of Uttar Pradesh's Rojgaar Sangam scheme, referring to it as the Union government's scheme. It is not a scheme by the Union government but rather a scheme specific to Uttar Pradesh. The allowance provided by the UP government to eligible candidates under this scheme is Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,500 per month.
The Haryana government's scheme called Saksham Yuva Yojana offers Rs 3,000 per month to eligible unemployed postgraduate individuals, Rs 1,500 to unemployed graduates.
Further, the Chhattisgarh's Berojgari Bhatta Yojana scheme and West Bengal's Yuwasree 2023 provides eligible candidates an allowance of Rs 2,500 and Rs 1,500 per month, respectively. The eligibility criteria for these schemes is between 18-35 years of age.
Past verifications by the Union government
Previously, the Union government has debunked similar claims stating government allowances to unemployed youths in India. In December 2022, the PIB had verified a viral WhatsApp message claiming that under the Prime Minister Unemployment Allowance Scheme, the government was giving an allowance of Rs 6,000 every month to unemployed youth. PIB confirmed that the viral message was fake and that the government was not running any such scheme.
Other instances of false claims were debunked by PIB in May 2020 and October 2021.
Additionally, during the COVID-19 pandemic in May, 2021, the Union government's cyber safety and security handle, Cyber Dost, on X (formerly Twitter) had cautioned social media users regarding fake websites and fraudulent text messages. "Cyber criminals are using this pandemic as an opportunity to defraud innocent/unsuspecting people by offering fake employment benefits," the X post said.
