Fact-check: Old video falsely claims govt launches new Rs2,000 cash scheme

A video that has garnered over nine million views is circulating on social media, alleging that the government has introduced a new financial aid programme for people earning less than Rs40,000 per month. Such individuals will receive a Rs2,000 cash stipend each month starting June.

The claim is false. The scheme is old and has not been relaunched by the government.

Claim

On June 23, a video began circulating on social media, claiming that people with a monthly income of less than Rs40,000 would receive Rs2,000 from the federal government. The video includes a news bulletin from a local news channel, where the anchor announces this purported new scheme.

She adds that people looking to avail the scheme will need to text their CNIC number to 786.

The video further claims that families already registered with the government’s Benazir Income Support Programme will receive the money sooner.

Fact

There is no such new scheme announced by the government, confirmed officials from the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and the federal finance ministry. The clip circulating online is from 2022 and not recent.

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, who asked not to be named, told Geo Fact Check that the ministry has no knowledge of any such announcement. He directed Geo Fact Check to officials at BISP, which is the official distribution network for the government’s poverty alleviation programs.

Muhammad Tariq, the staff officer to the secretary of BISP, also confirmed to Geo Fact Check that the government has not announced any such scheme. “No, we are not aware of any such thing that the government will give Rs2,000 to those whose income is less than Rs40,000,” he said.

He added that people registered with BISP can only receive their prescribed amount, and not any additional funds.

Meanwhile, Geo Fact Check found that the video of the news bulletin circulating online was actually from May 29, 2022, when such a programme was announced by the then government as a monthly subsidy of Rs2,000 for those earning less than Rs40,000 to cope with the hike in petroleum prices.

An advertisement published about the scheme in 2022 can be seen below.

Verdict: The video recycles an old government subsidy from 2022. The claim that a new financial aid programme has been launched is false.

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