A former bureaucrat and the founder of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) have sought President Droupadi Murmu’s intervention to stop the deployment of government employees for the Narendra Modi government’s Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra.

The yatra, according to public broadcaster Akashvani, will publicise the government’s welfare schemes across the country and is targeted at the “lower middle class”. It is scheduled from November 20 to January 26.

The Central Bureau of Communication floated a tender on Monday to print around 3.34 crore calendars, 88 lakh pocket booklets, and 1.67 crore brochures in Hindi, English, Punjabi and Urdu for the yatra.

Former Union economic affairs secretary E.A.S. Sarma and ADR founder Jagdeep Chhokar have in a letter to Murmu cited a purported communication from the Centre’s department of personnel on October 17 and said that it “seemed to have instructed all Ministries to nominate senior officers as ‘District Rath Prabharis’ under their purview to showcase/celebrate achievements of the NDA government during the last nine years through ‘Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra’ from 20th November 2023 to 25th January 2024. The letter pointed out that the yatra period will overlap with electioneering and polling in Assembly elections.

Five states are gearing up for Assembly elections. Among them, Rajasthan and Telangana will vote after the yatra begins. The Lok Sabha elections are due months later.

Sarma and Chhokar added: “In the specific case of the Ministry of Defence, such an unprecedented move implies that officers of the Defence Ministry would be engaged in showcasing the NDA government’s achievements on the eve of elections, which may not be consistent with the apolitical role that one expects them to play.

“This is the first time that political leadership in power at the Centre has engaged its entire machinery and public resources to promote its image on the eve of elections, placing the political parties in opposition at a disadvantage. In our view, in addition to constituting a brazen infringement of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC), this amounts to a corrupt practice that should attract urgent deterrent action from the Election Commission of India (ECI).”

They said: “At least four Union Ministers are reported to be contesting the ensuing State Assembly elections. Deploying Central government officers in an activity that literally amounts to canvassing for the ruling political party in elections they are contesting would negate all democratic norms.”

Sarma and Chhokar said this could also influence next year’s Lok Sabha polls and set a precedent for other parties to follow. Sarma had also written to the Election Commission on the matter.

“In view of the above, we seek your urgent intervention to ensure that the Election Commission acts urgently and unhesitatingly in the above matter and directs the Central Government to revoke the above-cited instructions in order to safeguard the integrity of the electoral process,” the letter stated.