GUWAHATI: On March 27, several prominent social media users tweeted about Wipro's head Azim Premji’s philanthropic gesture of donating Rs. 50,000 crores for the coronavirus pandemic, however, the claim about Premji's donation is indeed true but the news is a year old.
Speaking to media, a representative of Azim Premji Foundation informed that the news which is currently circulating is from March 2019. The claim about Premji donating Rs 50,000 crores is indeed true but the news is one year old.
A Google search with the figures – Rs 50,000 and Rs 52,000 crores – throws several articles including an NDTV March 2019 article.
“The billionaire chairperson of Wipro Limited has just added to the billions of dollars worth he has already donated by committing 34 per cent of shares in his company – worth 7.5 billion dollars or 52,750 crores,” reads the report published on March 15, 2019.
Hence, a year-old news piece was passed off as a recent donation pledged by philanthropist Azim Premji in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.