Himanshu, an 18-year-old resident of Khurshidpura village of Gautam Buddha Nagar’s Dadri, was surprised when told that his income had doubled, that he owned five acres of land, and earned Rs 5 lakh each year.

These figures were from a book released by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research about 75,000 farmers whose income had doubled in 2022. Himanshu, along with his father Surendra, was among the 110 farmers from the district named in the publication.

“These are all lies,” said Surinder, claiming that Himanshu neither had an income nor any land.

And he wasn’t the only one.