Overview
- State election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare said pending or routine payments may proceed, but prepayment of the January instalment is not permitted.
- The directive follows complaints after minister Girish Mahajan said beneficiaries would get ₹3,000 for December and January before Makar Sankranti on January 14.
- The SEC first sought clarification from Chief Secretary Rajesh Agarwal on whether two months’ instalments would be released together ahead of the January 15 municipal elections.
- Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis defended the scheme as a continuous program, while the Congress argued the timing constituted an electoral inducement.
- The BMC said 140 PADU units will serve as backup for counting with BEL’s M3A EVMs to address any technical issues on result day.