Fact Check: Gandhi did not receive any monthly allowance when confined as prisoner at Yerawada Central Jail

It has become a fashion to malign the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi by sharing half-baked or misleading bits of information on the internet. Recently, a message accompanied with an image of a document purportedly sourced from National Archives museum is doing rounds on various social media platforms claiming MK Gandhi used to receive Rs. 100 monthly allowance for his expenses from the British government. It further claims this secret would have remained buried if the Bharatiya Janata Party did not come to power.

Claim (in Telugu): జాతీయ ఆర్కియాలజి museum నుండి బిజెపి వాళ్ళు ఈ పత్రం సేకరించరూ ,బ్రిటీష్ ప్రభుత్వం 1930 నుండి ప్రతి నెల గాంధీకి ₹100 రూపాయలు వ్యక్తి గత ఖర్చుల కోసం చెల్లించేది, ఆ రోజులలో10 గ్రాముల బంగారం మార్కెట్ ధర 18.రూపాయలు

,ఆనాటి ₹100 విలువ ఈనాటి మార్కెట్ విలువ సుమారు ₹3.88 లక్షల తో సమానం.

ప్రశ్న ఏంటంటే ఆంగ్లేయుల ప్రభుత్వానికి వ్యతిరేకంగా స్వాతంత్ర్య పోరాటం చేస్తున్న గాంధీకి ఆంగ్లేయ ప్రభుత్వం ఇంత పెద్ద ధనరాశి ప్రతి నెల విధిగా ఎందు చెల్లించేది? భారతీయ జనతా పార్టీ అధికారంలో లేకుంటే ఈ రహస్యం బయటకు వచ్చేది కాదు.

(This document was obtained by the BJP from the National Archaeology Museum. It reveals that the British government used to pay Gandhi ₹100 every month since 1930 for his personal expenses. At that time, the market price of 10 grams of gold was ₹18. So, the value of ₹100 from that period is equivalent to approximately ₹3.88 lakh in today's market. 

So, the question is, why did the British government pay such a huge sum every month to Gandhi, who was fighting for freedom against the Britishers’ rule? This secret might never have come to light if the Bharatiya Janata Party had not been in power.)

Fact Check:

During the investigation, the Telugu Post fact check team found this claim to be misleading. 

When we searched with relevant keywords, we found a specific URL of the National Archives website which is related to the content found in the document of the claim. 

The title of the document is “Papers Regarding Mr MK Gandhi'S Treatment in Jail While Confined Under the Bombay Regulation Xxv of 1827 Expenditure Incurred on Account of the Allowance of Rs 100- PM Sanctioned to Mr MK Gandhi While Congress to State Prisoner.”

The letter was addressed to the Secretary of the Home Department of the Government of India and was written by GFS Collins, who served as the Secretary to the Home Department of the Government of Bombay.

The virat document can be found on India Culture official (National Archives of India) website’s page 51.

(Screenshot source: Indian Culture website)

Contrary to the claim in the viral post, it was an established practice of the then government to take care of the needs of the state prisoners under detention.

Since the viral document identified Gandhi as a state prisoner, it is evident that he received the allowance in accordance with the jail manual of that period. Additionally, this privilege was not given to Gandhi alone. Another state prisoner Satish Chandra Pakrashi was also given this allowance.  

In this video, the speaker Ashok Kumar Pandey has refuted the allegations against MK Gandhi. At 4.35 timestamp, he reads out a letter written by Gandhi from Yerawada jail to EE Doyle, who served as the Inspector General of Prisons for the Bombay Presidency, on May 10, 1930. The letter shows Gandhi refused to accept the monthly allowance for his maintenance in the prison.

“The Government has suggested Rs. 100 as monthly allowance. I hope I shall need nothing near it. I know that my food is a costly affair. It grieves me, but it has become a physical necessity with me,” Gandhi wrote in the letter.

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