Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana under which the Congress government announced a monthly honorarium of ₹1,500 for unemployed women in the age bracket of 18 to 60 years has come under the Election Commission’s scanner.

The EC has asked Himachal Pradesh chief electoral officer Maneesh Garg to send details about forms filled for the benefit before the model code of conduct came into force for the Lok Sabha elections on March 16. The state goes to the polls in the seventh phase on June 1.

On the EC’s directions, social justice and empowerment joint secretary Jeewan Singh on Thursday asked the director of the empowerment of Scheduled Caste and other backward classes, and minorities, to submit details of the forms received, sanctioned and pending for the scheme.

The joint secretary directed that funds for the scheme be put on hold. “No fresh sanctions for governmental schemes should be made. A review by the political executive (ministers) and processing of beneficiary-oriented schemes, even if ongoing, should be stopped till the completion of the election. No fresh release of funds on welfare schemes should be made for contract of works awarded in any part of the state without permission of the EC. This includes works under the member of Parliament local area development fund,” the letter said.

The Himachal Pradesh government had issued a notification for implementing the scheme on March 14, two days before the Lok Sabha elections were announced and the model code came into effect.

On March 4, Sukhu had announced that the state government would give ₹1,500 a month to each to more than five lakh women and said ₹800 crore would be spent on the initiative.

According to the notification, income-tax payers, women 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 are entitled to the compensation.

Contractual and 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 have been excluded from the benefit.

Left parties, including the Communist Party of India (Marxist), have backed the scheme and approached the chief electoral officer, urging him to let it continue.

The BJP has opposed the filling of forms by beneficiaries, terming it a Congress poll ploy just as the party did in the assembly elections.

The Congress had announced 10 guarantees, including the revival of the old pension scheme, jobs for five lakh youngsters, ₹1,500 as monthly compensation to unemployed women and 300 units of free electricity, in the run-up to the 2022 assembly elections. The party had also promised a start-up fund of ₹680 crore for youngsters, free medical treatment in every village through mobile clinics and cow dung cakes to be bought at ₹2 a kg.