MCC in force, new beneficiaries can't be added to scheme to give Rs 1,500 monthly assistance: HP CEO

New beneficiaries cannot be added under the Himachal Pradesh government's Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana as the Model Code of Conduct has come into force with the announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, an official said on Saturday.

The Congress government in the state on Thursday had issued a notification to give Rs 1,500 a month to women in the 18 to 59 age group under the scheme.

During a press conference here on the polls, Himachal Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Maneesh Garg made it clear that new beneficiaries cannot be added under the scheme as the Model Code of Conduct has come into force.

He was asked about the Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana and the notification. The general election was announced by the Election Commission of India in Delhi on Saturday. On March 4, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had announced that his government will give Rs 1,500 a month to women and said Rs 800 crore would be spent on the initiative, benefitting more than five lakh women annually.

Garg also said that the filling of forms to get the monthly Rs 1500 pension cannot take place as the forms have a picture of the chief minister.

Providing monthly financial assistance to women was one of the 10 ''guarantees'' given by the Congress in Himachal Pradesh ahead of the assembly polls.