NDTV has gained a reputation for being the most corrupt and misleading media establishment in India. It has already known for its false journalism and several fraudulent transactions of its owner Pronob Roy, now it has touched a new low as it has been caught red-handed for collecting money using UNICEF’s name to gather funds in the name of so called child relief but diverting for its own good.
NDTV was advertising for some time that they are a partner of UNICEF and they are working on a project to provide support to the children affected by the Coronavirus. NDTV claimed that children are at grave risk as ‘an additional 1600 could die every day over the next six months unless aid is provided to them immediately’.
The figures provided are obviously fudged and astonishing to create a sense of urgency in the mind of the people. NDTV was projecting 2.88 lakh additional child deaths due to the pandemic whereas total deaths so far due to Covid-19 in India are 1.68 lakh.
NDTV was very much aware that people will never donate funds to them, due to their reputation in the market, hence they added a fraudulent twist in this entire saga. NDTV claimed that they are collecting the funds for Children and they will hand it over to the Childline India Foundation, which is an organization that comes under the Ministry of Women and Child Development, Government of India. For our readers’ reference, we would like to tell you that Childline India Foundation helps children in distress and operates a helpline called Childline 1098.
NDTV also involved UNICEF in this cooked-up fundraising movement and projected itself as a partner of UNICEF, they even went one step ahead and named it the ‘NDTV-UNICEF Reimagine Telethon’.
Several people raised this issue on social media and upon coming to know of this fraud, UNICEF issued an official statement to inform the public that it has come to their notice that some organizations are using its name to raise funds without any authorization. Without naming NDTV, UNICEF added that “We denounce this unethical practice and disassociate from the organizations/ individuals involved in this”.
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) which is responsible for child rights protection in India has also approached both the Delhi Police and Economics Offences Wing to request legal action against NDTV. NCPCR maintained that NDTV was illegally raising funds using fraudulent techniques.
The NCPCR letter stated that “Therefore, it is requested that the serious allegation made in this complaint may be looked into an investigation into the intentions of NDTV for raising this money and utilization of this money received in this fundraiser may be initiated under appropriate provisions of law”.
NDTV in a deep financial crisis
NDTV, which was once a blue-eyed boy of Congress government, has been under the intense scrutiny of ED, IT, and SEBI for several cases of fraud. SEBI has recently imposed a fine of Rs 27 crore on NDTV’s promoters for concealing information from shareholders on certain loan agreements. The NDTV promoters Prannoy Roy and Radhika Roy have already approached the Supreme Court claiming they have no money even to pay the deposit required to challenge the SEBI penalty and they offered to deposit NDTV shares instead. But some experts claimed that they do not even own those shares anymore.
NDTV has been hammered by people on social media for its fake news and blatant anti-Hindu and anti-India stance. Both Ministry of Health and PIB have called it out in recent times for fake news on the Covid-19 vaccine and several other misleading information campaigns.
So mired by the acute financial crisis and credibility issues, the NDTV is now trying hard to collect as many funds as possible from people to sponsor its legal battles.
However, this looks so cheap and disgusting that a renowned and one of the oldest news media channels in India has employed such tactics to generate funds for their survival. We demand strict action against NDTV and its promoters, who are duping the faith of people so openly, that too in the name of journalism.
