Negative news reports that “tarnish the image” of the state government will need to be fact-checked by the district administration. That is what the Uttar Pradesh government has directed to state officials in a letter issued on Friday. It asked the officials to “seek clarification” from media outlets if reports were found to be “distorted” or presenting “inaccurate facts”.
The letter issued by chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s principal secretary Sanjay Prasad instructed all 18 divisional commissioners, 75 district magistrates and other department heads to “fact check the negative news items”. It said a weekly report on these “negative news” will be uploaded in the state’s grievance redressal system and shared with state officials for investigation.
