Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) CEO D. Muralidhar Reddy issued a circular, on Sunday, directing the officials to disburse pensions through staff of ward and village secretariats during the course of elections, following an order by the Election Commission of India (ECI) to keep volunteers out of it.
He stated that there was a continuous flow of complaints about alleged influencing of the elections by the volunteers and it prompted the ECI to bar them from distributing cash benefits under any scheme, including the social security pensions, and to make alternative arrangements.
SERP, therefore, issued the above instruction along with guidelines to be adhered by those disbursing the pensions, in compliance with the ECI order related to the Model Code of Conduct that is already in force.
