HYDERABAD: In a jolt to the ruling Congress, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Tuesday deferred disbursement of aid under the Rythu Bharosa to farmers till the completion of polling for the Lok Sabha elections on May 13. It directed the officials concerned to submit a compliance report in this regard on Tuesday itself.
The ECI move came following a complaint from one N Venukumar, stating that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy violated the model code of conduct by announcing at a ‘Jana Jatara’ meeting in Kothagudem a couple of day ago that disbursement of Rythu Bharosa assistance would be completed on or before May 9.
In a letter to Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj, the ECI stated that the chief minister has violated MCC and the balance amount under the scheme for 2023 Rabi season should be deposited in the accounts of the beneficiary farmers only after Lok Sabha elections.
‘’Though Rythu Bharosa is an ongoing scheme, the disbursement of 2023 Rabi season assistance must have been completed by January 2024 as per the precedent. Further, according to complaint received from Venukumar and report thereupon received from the Telangana CEO, the ECI found that Revanth Reddy has violated the MCC conditions laid down in this regard for ongoing scheme by publicly speaking about ensuing disbursement under Rythu Bharosa scheme on or before May 9, which has also been reported in the media,’’ ECI stated in the letter.
The election commission said Rabi instalment of the assistance was disbursed by the state government during October-January in the last five years and there was neither any fixed date for disbursement prescribed in the scheme “nor any special significance of disbursement in the month of May, 2024 for Rabi season of 2023”.
‘’It is worth noting that similar directives were issued during the Telangana Assembly elections in 2023 for the Rythu Bandhu scheme. Former BRS minister T Harish Rao violated MCC by attempting to take credit for the scheme’s disbursement during the election period. In the light of these concerns, the poll panel has directed the deferment of the undisbursed installment of the Rythu Bharosa scheme till poll is over on May 13. This decision is aimed at ensuring the integrity of the electoral process and preventing the misuse of government schemes for electoral gains. Any attempt to politicise or exploit such government schemes for electoral purposes will be dealt with firmly to uphold the sanctity of the democratic process,” ECI said.
Interestingly, according to officials, the state government had released over Rs 2,400 crore to be paid to around 6.65 lakh farmers on Monday.