 "K Chandrashekhar Rao, KCR")
The Election Commission (EC) on Monday withdrew the permission given to the ruling Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government in Telangana regarding disbursements of financial aid to farmers for growing their rabi crops under the Rythu Bandhu scheme.
The poll body cited a violation of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) after a state minister made a public statement on the initiative.
What is Rythu Bandhu scheme?
The Rythu Bandhu scheme, also known as Farmer's Investment Support Scheme (FISS), is a welfare programme for farmers started by the Telangana government in 2018.
Under the scheme, the state government provided the 58 lakh farmers in Telangana with Rs 5,000 per acre of their land as a farm investment for two crops. This investment is made twice a year, once for kharif harvest and once for rabi harvest.
The Rythu Bandhu Scheme is the country's first direct farmer investment support scheme, in which cash is paid directly to the beneficiary. The scheme was launched by Telangana CM K Chandrashekar Rao in 2018, and Rs 12,000 crore were allocated from the state budget for the scheme.
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Why did EC stop Rhythu Bandhu scheme?
On Monday, the EC told the Telangana government to stop the disbursal of the rabi instalment of assistance under the Rythu Bandhu scheme till the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force.
On November 25, the EC had given its 'no objection' to the disbursement during the MCC period as long as the Telangana government followed certain directions. The directions, first issued on October 5, 2018, during the 2018 Assembly elections, stated that no new beneficiaries should be added, no publicity should be done, and no political functionary should be involved in the disbursement
However, on Sunday, EC received a letter from the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) saying that Telangana Finance Minister T Harish Rao had "made statements regarding the disbursement of the Rythu Bandhu scheme by a particular time before the date of the poll", which had been widely reported in the media.
Meanwhile, reacting to the development, BRS MLC Kavitha Rao said, "The dirty politics of Congress has once again surfaced. It [Rythu Bandhu] was not an election promise, it is not a new programme that was made for elections, but Congress has been complaining about it time and again."
Telangana, which has 119 Assembly seats, will head to polls on November 30. The counting of votes will be on December 3.
