Rajasthan government did not halt UP-bound student buses due to fuel dues

May 27, 2020 Aishwarya Varma

Spread the truth:

People on social media have claimed that the Rajasthan government halted buses carrying students from Kota to Uttar Pradesh, as the Uttar Pradesh government had not paid for fuel that would be required to make the return journey, worth Rs 19 lakhs.

Claim:”कोटा से उत्तर प्रदेश के students को वापिस लाते समय UP के कुछ बसों को डीज़ल की आवश्यकता पड़ गयी ..दया छोड़िए ..आधि रात को दफ़्तर खुलवा कर प्रियंका वाड्रा की राजस्थान सरकार ने UP सरकार से पहले 19 लाख रुपए लिए और उसके बाद बसों को रवाना होने दिया वाह रे मदद।”

(Translation: While bringing back students from Kota to Uttar Pradesh, some UP buses needed diesel…forget aid..Priyanka Vadra’s Rajasthan government made UP government offices open up in the middle of the night and took Rs. 19 lakhs, only after which the buses were allowed to leave. Wow, what help!)

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Twitter

BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra was the first to post this on social media. It has been retweeted by over 18,600 users.

कोटा से उत्तर प्रदेश के students को वापिस लाते समय UP के कुछ बसों को डीज़ल की आवश्यकता पड़ गयी ..दया छोड़िए ..आधि रात को दफ़्तर खुलवा कर प्रियंका वाड्रा की राजस्थान सरकार ने UP सरकार से पहले 19 लाख रुपए लिए और उसके बाद बसों को रवाना होने दिया
वाह रे मदद।#दोगली_कांग्रेस pic.twitter.com/QQexV1BlVq

— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 21, 2020

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Atul Kumar, the national Vice President of BJP’s youth wing, also tweeted the image with the same claim.

कोटा से उत्तर प्रदेश के students को वापिस लाते समय UP के कुछ बसों को डीज़ल की आवश्यकता पड़ गयी ..दया छोड़िए ..आधि रात को दफ़्तर खुलवा कर प्रियंका वाड्रा की राजस्थान सरकार ने UP सरकार से पहले 19 लाख रुपए लिए और उसके बाद बसों को रवाना होने दिया
@sambitswaraj #दोगली_कांग्रेस pic.twitter.com/l0S2fIVHe4

— Atul kumar (@AtulKumarBJP) May 21, 2020

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Truth

In another tweet, Sambit Patra also claimed that the Rajasthan government charged the UPSRTC (Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation) Rs 36 lakhs when requested to arrange for additional buses till the Rajasthan-Uttar Pradesh border when the number of students wanting to travel home exceeded the initial count.

कोटा में UP के 10000 students फँसे हुए थे।योगी सरकार ने 560 बसें भेजीं उन्हें लाने के लिए।मालूम पड़ा 12000 बच्चे है।UP सरकार ने राजस्थान सरकार से फ़तेहपुर/झाँसी सीमा तक 70 बसों की सहायता ली।
प्रियंका वाड्रा जी की राजस्थान सरकार ने आज 36 लाख का बिल भेजा है
वाह मदद#दोगली_कांग्रेस pic.twitter.com/vVd5FEORax

— Sambit Patra (@sambitswaraj) May 21, 2020

This reminder letter sent by M.P Meena , the executive director of RJSRTC (Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation) clearly states that the buses arranged to transport students stranded in Kota ferried between April 17 and 19. It also reminds that the amount for the arrangement and travel cost (distance and fuel) of the buses amounts to Rs 36,36,664 and that it could be transferred via RTGS.

The cheque in Patra’s tweet is dated May 05, sixteen days after the buses brought the students home.

The buses could not have been stopped for payment of fuel dues and then released after the money was received between April 17 and 19, as the dues were paid on May 05. The claim is fake.

Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma clarified the same in a press talk.

Rajasthan govt raised a bill of Rs 19 lakhs for diesel provided by them for UP buses that were run for bringing back students from Kota, we paid the bill on 5th May: Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma pic.twitter.com/Kxksoxdp8r

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) May 22, 2020

The tweet also makes another claim, “कोटा में UP के 10000 students फँसे हुए थे।योगी सरकार ने 560 बसें भेजीं उन्हें लाने के लिए।मालूम पड़ा 12000 बच्चे है।UP सरकार ने राजस्थान सरकार से फ़तेहपुर/झाँसी सीमा तक 70 बसों की सहायता ली। प्रियंका वाड्रा जी की राजस्थान सरकार ने आज 36 लाख का बिल भेजा है वाह मदद”

(Translation: 10,000 students from UP were stranded in Kota. Yogi government sent 560 buses to bring them home. It was later found that there were 12,000 students. UP government requested the Rajasthan government’s aid to arrange for 70 buses to get the students to the Fatehpur/Jhansi border. Priyanka Vadra’s Rajasthan Government sent a bill today asking for Rs 36 lakhs. Wow, what help!)

The reminder letter is dated May 08 and the tweet was posted on May 21. Later that evening, Rajasthan’s transport minister, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas posted letters sent by UPSRTC managing director Dr Raj Shekhar to Naveen Jain, chairperson and managing director of the RJSRTC. Both these letters are dated April 18. Khachariyawas’s post says –

“संबित पात्रा जी आज आप झूठ बोल रहे है यह जिन पैसों की आप बात कर रहे है यह राज्यपथ परिवहन उत्तरप्रदेश की बसें जब राजस्थान आइ तब उत्तरप्रदेश के परिवहन अधिकारियों ने राजस्थान परिवहन के अधिकारियों से निवेदन किया फिर हमने उत्तर प्रदेश की बसों में डीज़ल डलवाया उस डीज़ल के पैसे की आप बात कर रहे है झूठ ओर फ़रेब की राजनीति आप बंद करो ओर शर्म करो ।

राजस्थान सरकार ने २ करोड़ 6 लाख ख़र्च करके हाथरस ओर आगरा तक यूपी के मज़दूरों को पहुँचाया है हमारी श्रमिक बसें प्रतिदिन चल रही है जो की निशुल्क है | झूठ की राजनीति करने के बजाय पूरे देश में मज़दूर दर्द से परेशान है उधर ध्यान दो ।”

(Translation: Sambit Patra ji you are lying today, the money you are talking about, when UPSRTC buses reached Rajasthan, the transport officers of Uttar Pradesh requested the officers of Rajasthan transport officers, then we made diesel available to the buses of Uttar Pradesh. You are talking about diesel money, stop this politics of lies and delusion and have some shame.

The Rajasthan government has spent 2 crores and 6 Lakhs to send migrant workers of UP to Hathras and Agra. Our Shramik buses are operating every day and they are free. Instead of doing politics of lies, pay attention to the plight of troubled labourers across the country.)

Khachariyawas’s post corroborates the claim that the money in question (Rs 19 lakhs) was fuel money. The letters he posted explain the Rs 36 lakh amount, which the managing director UPSRTC had specifically asked to provide the details of. The following letter corrects Patra’s tweet, which stated that Rajasthan had arranged for 70 buses, when there were actually 75 buses .

The marked portion of the letter translates to – If needed, you are requested to send the details of expenditure to the buses provided by you and for payment after verifying the invoice by UPSRTC, the amount left after deducting the dues paid for the diesel, the UPSRTC will refund the amount to RJSTRC.

The 2-page letter continues the same narrative of requesting RJSRTC for the amount spent on arranging fuel for the buses so that it could be arranged promptly. It specifies the number of buses as well as the fuel required per bus.

On May 22, a day after Sambit Patra’s claims went viral, Press Trust of India’s official Twitter handle stated that the UP government had cleared the bill for the amount due.