One file for every speaker: hand-checked dossier entries and fact checks drafted by the watch desk agents and approved by an editor. Only claims that have been checked are listed; every one opens onto the evidence behind its rating.
Last discovery run: 15 Oct 2026, 13:26 IST, via rss+tavily, 27 official series retrieved
What they said is not true. The official record shows something else.
Not trueAkhilesh Yadavchecked 1 Oct 2026
“अखिलेश यादव का दावा 26 हजार से अधिक स्कूल बंद, मिला ये जवाब!”
more than 26,000 schools shut since 2017, 1,37,102
What the evidence showsHide the evidence↓↑
What they said
more than 26,000 schools shut since 2017
Akhilesh Yadav claimed that more than 26,000 schools have been shut down (in Uttar Pradesh), a claim to which a response was given.
amarujala.com, checked 1 Oct 2026
What is actually true
1,37,102
government schools in Uttar Pradesh, UDISE+ 2023-24
sansad.in
In a Rajya Sabha answer of 23 July 2025, the Ministry of Education gave UDISE+ counts of government schools in every state. For Uttar Pradesh the count was 1,37,638 in 2019-20 and 1,37,102 in 2023-24 — nearly unchanged over the latest five years, with no drop anywhere near 26,000. The same answer says the opening, merger or closing of schools is within the state government's purview and contains no data showing 26,000 closed primary schools in Uttar Pradesh.
The Ministry of Education's Rajya Sabha answer of 23 July 2025 gives state-wise UDISE+ numbers of government schools; Uttar Pradesh's figure is 1,37,638 in 2019-20 and 1,37,102 in 2023-24. [4]
The same answer says opening, merger or closing of schools is the concerned state government's job under the Right to Education Act, 2009, and it does not list 26,000 closed primary schools in Uttar Pradesh. [4]
Media reports say Akhilesh Yadav claimed official data showed 1,13,938 government primary schools in Uttar Pradesh till March 2017 and that more than 26,000 of them were closed since then. [3]
The official record does not show the claimed mass closure. UDISE+ data tabled in the Rajya Sabha put Uttar Pradesh's total government schools at 1,37,638 in 2019-20 and 1,37,102 in 2023-24, nearly the same. The Rajya Sabha answer about closing or merging schools contains no series showing 26,000 closed primary schools. The official figures are for all government schools and begin after 2017, so they do not directly count primary schools from March 2017, but they contradict the scale of the claim and offer no support for the 1,13,938 baseline.
Part of it is true, but the way it was said gives a wrong picture.
MisleadingRahul Gandhichecked 1 Oct 2026
“Concurrently, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi addressed students in Indore, alleging that the education system has been captured by the ruling establishment and that central education budget allocations have declined.”
₹1,39,289.48 crore
What the evidence showsHide the evidence↓↑
What they said
Rahul Gandhi, addressing students in Indore, alleged that the education system has been captured by the ruling establishment and that central education budget allocations have declined.
indiatoday.in, checked 1 Oct 2026
What is actually true
₹1,39,289.48 crore
Ministry of Education budget 2026-27, Press Information Bureau
pib.gov.in
The Press Information Bureau, the Government of India's information office, announced on 1 February 2026 that the Ministry of Education's total allocation reached ₹1,39,289.48 crore — an 8.27% increase over the previous year's budget estimate. A Rajya Sabha answer of 4 December 2024 shows the Ministry's allocation staying at 0.4% of GDP in each of 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, and a policy analysis notes that while absolute spending on education has grown, its share of the whole Union Budget has fallen over the past 12 years. No source in the record shows the education system being 'captured' by the ruling establishment.
The Press Information Bureau reported that the Ministry of Education's total allocation for 2026-27 reached ₹1,39,289.48 crore, an 8.27% increase over the 2025-26 budget estimate, and described the school education allocation of ₹83,562 crore as the highest ever. [4]
A Rajya Sabha answer of 4 December 2024 states the Ministry of Education's budgeted allocation was 0.4% of GDP in 2021-22, 2022-23 and 2023-24, while total spending on education by the Centre, States and Union Territories stood at 4.12% of GDP in 2021-22. [1]
A policy analysis reports that the Ministry of Education's share of the total Union Budget declined from about 4.6% to 2.5% over 12 years, even as its spending rose in absolute terms, and that the road transport sector's share grew while education's relative share fell. [2]
The Press Information Bureau described the Ministry of Education's 2023-24 allocation of ₹112,899.47 crore as the highest ever, an increase of about 13% over the 2022-23 revised estimate. [11]
The official record contradicts the claim that central education allocations 'declined' in absolute terms: they rose each year to a record ₹1,39,289.48 crore in 2026-27. What has fallen is education's relative share of the total Union Budget, a different measure that a budget analysis puts at a drop from 4.6% to 2.5% over 12 years. The assertion that the education system has been 'captured' by the ruling establishment is an allegation for which the retrieved record contains no court finding, commission report or official document.
“The AAP chief also highlighted past achievements, stating that when his government was in power in Delhi, they had installed 262,000 CCTV cameras and 280,000 streetlights.”
262,000 CCTV cameras and 280,000 streetlights, 3,81,107
What the evidence showsHide the evidence↓↑
What they said
262,000 CCTV cameras and 280,000 streetlights
Arvind Kejriwal stated that when his (AAP) government was in power in Delhi, it had installed 262,000 CCTV cameras and 280,000 streetlights.
thenewsmill.com, checked 1 Oct 2026
What is actually true
3,81,107
LED streetlights installed in Delhi under SLNP, PIB, Dec 2023
pib.gov.in
A Press Information Bureau release of 15 December 2023 from the Ministry of Power says that under the Street Lighting National Programme, Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a central public-sector joint venture, installed 3,81,107 LED streetlights in Delhi. Media reports citing official data say Delhi has 2,74,389 CCTV cameras installed by the Public Works Department, and the Delhi government planned an audit of more than 260,000 CCTV cameras installed by PWD during the previous AAP regime.
A Press Information Bureau release of 15 December 2023 from the Ministry of Power says that under the Street Lighting National Programme, Energy Efficiency Services Limited, a central public-sector joint venture, installed 3,81,107 LED streetlights in Delhi. [4]
Media reports citing official data say Delhi has 2,74,389 CCTV cameras installed by the Public Works Department, and the Delhi government planned an audit of more than 260,000 CCTV cameras installed by PWD during the previous AAP regime. [2][7]
The official record on Delhi streetlights attributes the 3,81,107 LED streetlights to EESL under the central Street Lighting National Programme, not to the AAP government. [4]
The CCTV part is close to the record: media reports citing official data put Delhi's PWD-installed cameras at 2,74,389, and the Delhi government planned an audit of more than 260,000 cameras installed during the AAP period. But the streetlight part is not supported: the official PIB record says 3,81,107 LED streetlights in Delhi were installed by EESL under the central Street Lighting National Programme, not by the AAP government. So the claim presents a central programme's work as the AAP government's achievement.