An official income certificate, showing a farmer in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district with an annual income of just Rs 3, went viral on social media and prompted the Congress to quip that “India’s poorest man” has been founder under the rule of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.
Subsequently, authorities issued a corrected version of the certificate, saying the earlier one was the result of a clerical mistake. The initial certificate was issued by the tehsil office in Kothi and bore the signature of the local Tehsildar.
The incident occurred after Ramswaroop, a resident of Nayagaon village, applied for an income certificate at the Kothi tehsil office. When he received the document dated July 22, it declared that his family’s annual income was Rs 3, effectively placing his monthly income at a mere 25 paise. The certificate was signed by Tehsildar Saurabh Dwivedi and said that the income details were based on the self-declaration provided by the applicant.
Ramswaroop then approached the tehsil office to lodge a complaint. A new certificate was issued on July 25 — this time listing his annual income as Rs 30,000, or Rs 2,500 per month.
Kothi tehsildar Saurabh Dwivedi acknowledged the error, attributing it to a clerical mistake. “An income certificate was issued by our office in which, due to a clerical error, the annual income was mistakenly recorded as Rs 3. This has now been corrected,” he told local media.
The Madhya Pradesh Congress, however, posted an image of the certificate on its X handle and said, “In Mohan (Yadav’s) reign, India’s poorest man has been found! An income certificate was issued in Satna district! Annual income stated to be only Rs 3! Isn’t that shocking! A mission to make the public poor? Because now the chair itself is eating the commission!”
