Centre slams report that India shelved ban on single-use plastic, calls it 'fake news'

State-run Prasar Bharati News Services on October 2 rebutted the claims made by news agency Reuters that India has held off imposing a blanket ban on single-use plastics.

The report by Reuters had attributed the information to officials in the environment ministry.

Rebutting these claims through a series of tweets, Prasar Bharati said, “There was NEVER a blanket ban in the works against single use plastic. PM’s appeal and thrust has always been about a mass-movement against the scourge of single use plastics (sic).”

Calling the Reuters report, “fake news”, Prasar Bharati said, “To imagine a fictitious "ban" and then to claim it has been "shelved" is reflective of the polemical approach of International News Agencies that are looking to stoke controversies spread negativity.”
The remarks came in when India is commemorating Mahatma Gandhi’s 150^th birth anniversary. The government-owned media agency retorted, “On a day when we mark 150 years of Gandhi's Birth such falsehoods do no justice to 1.3 billion Indians’ tribute to Gandhi in the fight against single use plastic.”

The Reuters report suggested that PM Modi would “outlaw” six items of plastic on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti “as part of a broader campaign to rid India of single-use plastics by 2022.”