NT Verdict
Verified Real
12-year-old Pune student files RTI, follows up for 3 months, gets potholed road repaired
The Claim Being Checked
“A Class 7 student in Pune used RTI to hold the municipal corporation accountable for a dangerous road”
What NT Found
12-year-old Arjun Deshpande of Pune's Kothrud area filed an RTI after his school bus route was damaged for over a year. He followed up three times over 90 days. The PMC issued a work order in January 2026 and the road was repaired in March. The video shows him receiving a commendation from the Ward Officer.
NT Verdict
Verified Real
Pune Municipal Corporation confirmed the RTI reply and the work order for road repair.
How We Verified This
Step 1 — Detection
Content flagged after crossing 6.7M views on YouTube on Apr 25, 2026. NT's monitoring system triggered a verification queue entry. Assigned to NT Fact Desk.
Evidence 1
Pune Municipal Corporation confirmed RTI registration number PMC/RTI/2025/0441
Evidence 2
Work order W-2026/KW/0112 issued January 14, 2026 is in the public record
Evidence 3
Road repair completion certificate dated March 8, 2026 obtained by NT
Evidence 4
Ward Officer's video felicitation of the student is on PMC's official channel
Final Verdict
Verified Real — Pune Municipal Corporation confirmed the RTI reply and the work order for road repair.
Sources Consulted
3 sourcesPune Municipal Corporation RTI register
official
PMC Ward 14 work order public record
official
Maharashtra RTI portal
database
How we verified this: NT's fact-checkers use reverse image/video search, EXIF metadata analysis, official records, direct source outreach, and where relevant, AI-detection tools. All verdicts undergo two-editor review before publication. Corrections published within 24 hours. Read our full methodology →
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