SEC puts brakes on government plan to distribute house sites on Ugadi

VIJAYAWADA: The State Election Commission has put brakes on the State government’s plan to distribute house sites to over 26 lakh poor families on March 26. The Commission is of the view that any new scheme that provides individual benefit cannot be implemented when the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force.

House sites distribution is one of the flagship programmes of the YSRC government and it decided to hand over house site patts to the beneficiaries across the State on March 25, marking the occasion of Ugadi (Telugu New Year). Earlier, the ruling party leaders exuded confidence that there would be no MCC restriction on the scheme as the government has already completed the process of publicising the final list of beneficiaries before the MCC came into force.

State Election Commissioner N Ramesh Kumar, while addressing a press conference at the SEC office here on Wednesday, maintained that going by the directions of the High Court that any scheme involving individual benefit cannot be launched when the MCC is in force, distribution of house sites should not be implemented.

When asked about the Election Commission permitting the previous government implementing the ‘Pasupu Kumkuma’ scheme, he said, “I don’t want to comment on what happened in the past. They might got exemption for continuation of the scheme. But, this is a new scheme and so it is not possible for its implementation (when MCC is in force),’’ he said.

The SEC also informed that he has not received any communication from the government on the house site distribution scheme.Responding to the High Court direction over removal of colours on government buildings, he said that he expected that the colours will be removed within 10 days as stipulated by the court.

EC green signal to CM Review meeting
When asked about the objection raised by Leader of the Opposition N Chandrababu Naidu over Chief Minister holding review meetings, Ramesh Kumar said that the MCC was not intended to prevent the government from discharging its responsibilities. “Reviews can be conducted on development and welfare schemes,” he said.

What SEC says
Directions have been issued to District Collectors to take stringent action against those delaying the issuance of certificates to candidates
SEC takes serious note of the incidents of preventing persons from filing nominations
Except sporadic incidents, arrangements in place for smooth conduct ofpolls