A pension scheme in Andhra, a political slugfest and why Jagan may be worried

A POLITICAL firestorm has erupted in Andhra Pradesh over the Election Commission’s (EC) directive to the Andhra Pradesh government to stop deploying village and wardlevel volunteers to disburse pensions under the YSR Pension Kanuka scheme to the doorsteps of beneficiaries.

What is the EC order?

Directing the government to make alternative arrangements for the disbursal of pensions, the EC on March 30 directed volunteers to hand over all their phones or tablets that have the details of beneficiaries till the Model Code of Conduct is in force.

YSRCP’S response

The party accused the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) of trying to “play with the lives of people by stopping welfare schemes”. On Wednesday, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy called TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu a sadist for “orchestrating the complaint to the EC”.

TDP rebuttal

The TDP has accused the YSRCP of not having funds to run welfare schemes due to financial irregularities.

“The government had money. But, within 15 days from the time of the announcement of the poll code, Rs 13,000 crore was paid to the contractors by this government. Once our government is formed, we will disburse Rs 4,000 per head each month,” Naidu said on Monday. The takeaway

Looking to sweep the pollslike in 2019, when it won 23 of the 25 Lok Sabha seats, the YSRCP is banking heavily on welfare schemes, dubbed navaratnalu, to overcome the anti-incumbency factor. A section of YSRCP leaders say the pension row may dent its prospects . The TDP thinks it can seize on the issue.