The Election Commission (EC), acting on a complaint by the BJP, has sent a letter to the Himachal Pradesh government asking them to suspend the filling of new forms under the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana until the Model Code of Conduct (MCC) is in force.

The scheme, announced on March 4, promises monthly assistance of Rs 1,500 to women in the age group of 18 to 59.

Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, in a bid to fulfil a poll promise made ahead of the 2022 assembly polls, had announced this scheme on March 4 and said that Rs 800 crore would be spent annually on this scheme, which would benefit over 5 lakh women in the state.

Maneesh Garg, Chief Electoral Officer, Himachal Pradesh, said on March 16 that new beneficiaries cannot be added under the scheme due to the enforcement of MCC. Additionally, forms cannot be filled for getting Rs 1,500 per month pension as it carries the photograph of the chief minister, he had added.

Citing the instructions it issued on January 2 the EC said "no fresh sanctions of government schemes should be made or reviewed by the ministers and processing of beneficiary oriented schemes, including the ongoing schemes should be stopped till the completion of the elections".

A letter from the election department to the Secretary of Social Justice and Empowerment, Himachal Pradesh, highlighted these instructions, which were then communicated to the Director of Empowerment of SCs, OBCs, minorities, and specially-abled.

The director was instructed by the secretary to provide consolidated information on forms received, sanctioned, and pending before the enforcement of the MCC, as desired by the state's chief electoral officer.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had filed a complaint with the EC seeking a halt on the monthly assistance scheme.

Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur accused the Congress-run Himachal Pradesh government of carrying the photographs of former prime minister Indira Gandhi and the chief minister on the forms to derive political mileage by misleading the women as it had done earlier during the 2022 assembly elections.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) had come out in support of the Congress. CPI(M) leader and former mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Sanjay Chauhan told PTI on Wednesday that the scheme had been notified before the election announcement.

In a social media post, Sukhu said "the BJP has become 'kaam roko' (stop work) party and is trying hard to prevent the financial benefits from reaching the state's women. The culture of toppling the government by use of money power and stopping work will not work in Himachal".

Thakur said the Congress party promised to give Rs 1,500 per month to all women in the 18-59 age group which numbered to about 22 lakh but now the benefit is being extended to only about 5 lakh women.

The Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana, a notification for which was issued in this regard on March 13, exempts income tax payers, women monks permanently staying in monasteries, family members of employees, pensioners of central and state governments, and employees of panchayati raj institutions, local bodies and public sector undertakings of the state and central governments will not get the amount.

The other categories excluded from the scheme are contractual employees, outsourced employees, daily wagers, part-time employees, ex-servicemen and their widows, anganwadi workers and helpers, Asha workers, mid-day meal workers, multi-task workers and beneficiaries of social security pension.

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