A post is doing the rounds on social media with a claim that the central government, on the suggestion of actor Akshay Kumar, has opened a bank account to seek donations for the modernisation of the Indian Army.
What else did the claim say?: Carrying details of the purported bank account, the claim added that the donations will be used to purchase weapons as well as for soldiers "who are injured or martyred in the war zone".
What is the truth?: The claim is misleading. The Armed Forces Battle Casualty Welfare Fund (AFBCWF) was instituted in 2020 to accept donations for soldiers who get grievously injured or lay down their lives during military operations.
The fund was not set up to purchase weapons or for the modernisation of the Indian Army as claimed.
About the welfare fund: On going through the official website of the Indian Army, we found information about two funds namely — Army Central Welfare Fund and AFBCWF.
The website said that AFBCWF "accepts donation for families of battle casualties from Army, Navy and Air Force. The donations received in the fund are utilized to pay financial assistance to Battle Casualties of Army, Navy and Air Force, their next of kins and dependents."
It did not mention anything related to purchasing weapons as seen in the viral claim.
PIB debunks the claim: The fact-checking wing of the Press Information Bureau (PIB) took to its official X handle to term the viral claim as "misleading".
The post shared on 27 April said, "The bank account mentioned in the message is NOT meant for modernization of Indian Army or for purchase of weapons."
A recurring theme: Team WebQoof had previously debunked a similar claim in 2019, when a social media post was being circulated claiming that the government had set up a bank account to purchase weapons for the Indian Army. You can read our old fact-check here.
Conclusion: It is evident that claim about the central government setting up a bank account to seek donations to purchase weapons for the Indian Army is false.
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