Tags:
Journalism of Courage
The Election Commission, in all likelihood, will censure NITI Aayog Vice Chairman for his criticism of the proposed Nyunatam Aay Yojana (NYAY), The Indian Express has learnt. As first reported by The Indian Express, Rajiv Kumar had responded to EC’s letter on Tuesday saying that he spoke in his personal capacity as an economist and his comments should not be interpreted as Aayog’s stand on the Congress announcement.
He even cited the example of his predecessor Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who, as deputy chairman of the Planning Commission (later recast as NITI Aayog under NDA-II government), had commented on the ‘Gujarat Model’ in April 2014 while the Model Code of Conduct was in force for Lok Sabha polls.
“Just because an officer before you got away with a violation does not justify your conduct. As long as you are a public servant, you should desist from making statements that could work in favour of the party in power,” said a source who did not wish to be identified.
The NITI Aayog Vice Chairman had dismissed Congress’s promise of a minimum income of Rs 6,000 to the poorest 20 per cent households, saying the party can “say and do anything to win elections”.
Click here for more election news
The Model Code forbids the use of official machinery and personnel for furthering the interest of the party in power during election season.
Since Kumar is a public servant, the Commission had asked him to explain his criticism of Congress’s announcement on minimum basic income guarantee as a poll promise. He was given time till March 29 to respond. The deadline, on his request, was extended to April 2.
