Prime Minister Narendra Modi on April 7, 2021, interacted with students virtually in his annual 'Pariksha Pe Charcha' (A discussion on exams) programme where he answered a number of questions from students and teachers relating to examinations.
Hours after the programme ended, a graphic claiming the prime minister advised students to attempt difficult questions first, became a topic for discussion on social media.
However, BOOM found that the prime minister was misquoted by PMO India and the Mann Ki Baat Twitter handles. The PM spoke about tackling difficult subjects while studying. The reply was in response to two questions - one from a student in Arunachal Pradesh and the other a question from a teacher in Delhi, who asked about how students can deal with subjects they find difficult.
PMO India and Mann Ki Baat handle later deleted their tweets which were captioned, "Attempt the difficult questions first".
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Reaction to 'Attempt the difficult questions first' govt handle tweets
The misquoted tweets led to several Twitter users criticising PM Modi over the suggestion.
Both PMO India and Mann Ki Baat deleted their tweets without any clarification.
What PM Modi said?
BOOM watched the virtual address in question and found that PM Modi was misquoted by the official handles.
We found that the PM said that students should attempt difficult subjects first, however, he said it in the context of studying and not giving an examination.
At the 13.50 minutes timestamp, Modi can be heard saying, "...Teachers and parents teach us that what is easy should be done first, this is usually said, and especially during exams it is said to try what's easy first if there is time then touch what is difficult, but while studying I think this advice is not needed and not required, I see it from a different view, I say when it comes to studies, what is difficult should be taken up first, as your mind is fresh and you can try to attempt it, when difficult is attempted then easy becomes easier....."
One can view the same interaction in the below tweet
OpIndia's 'fact-check'
Right-wing website OpIndia's 'fact-check' on the statement, however, omitted that the prime minister was initially misquoted by PMO India and Maan Ki Baat twitter accounts.
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Also Read: Did UP CM Yogi Adityanath Use An Abusive Word On Air? A FactCheck