A screenshot of a letter purportedly issued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has gone viral on social media. The letter suggests that PM Modi has urged citizens to buy only Made-in-India products during Diwali.

The content of the letter reads, “My dear Indians, this time, all of you, for the upcoming Diwali festival, use only Indian-made materials in your homes for lighting, decorations and sweets. I hope you will definitely listen to this Prime Minister’s words. If you support me with small steps, I trust you will see our India rise to the top of the world’s leading ranks.” (Translated from Hindi)

The letter is issued in the name of the Prime Minister with his ‘signature’ in the bottom right corner and his photo on the top left corner.

A social media user shared the letter asking everyone to share it and amplify its reach.

SouthCheck found that the claim is false. We found that the same letter has been going around since 2016.

We found a social media user had shared the same letter on October 7, 2016.

We tried to find out if it is the official letter that the PM uses for correspondence. We checked an official letter from PM Modi, which he had issued to convey his wishes to Pakistan in coping with the Covid-19 pandemic.

We compared the viral letter with the letter issued by PM Modi and found many discrepancies. For example, the viral letter does not have a date mentioned right below the emblem. The signature of PM Modi is also different in the official letter.

The signature in the viral letter is available on Wikimedia, which is available for public use.

Also, we found that the official X handle of the Prime Minister’s Office had debunked the viral claim. The post suggests that the viral letter was not issued by the Prime Minister. The caption read, “Few appeals with PM’s ‘signature’ are circulated on social media. Such documents are not authentic.”

Hence, we can ascertain that the viral claim is false.