Government violated code conduct: Election Commission

After the diatribe between Congress led UPA and BJP over the announcement of the implementation of Aadhaar based direct cash transfer scheme just before the election time in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh, the Election Commission has slammed the government for the announcement of the scheme. The Election Commission directed the government to follow the model code of conduct in the two poll bound states.

The Commission comprising of three members was chaired by Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath. Considering the model code of conduct, the Commission stated that the government's announcement was avoidable.

"Taking into consideration the chronology of milestones of the scheme, the commission is of the considered opinion that the announcement was avoidable during the currency of the election process," as stated in the order by the EC.

"The Commission further directs that all follow-up and consequential steps towards the implementation of the scheme in respect of the four districts in Gujarat and the two districts in Himachal Pradesh, which are proposed to be covered in the first phase of implementation of the scheme, shall be kept in abeyance till completion of the election process," the order further stated.

The government had recently announced that the payment of pensions and scholarship schemes will be done by directly transferring to bank accounts of beneficiaries in 51 districts across 15 states from January 1. Out of the 51 districts, four districts were in poll bound Gujarat and two districts were in Himachal Pradesh.