As UP CM, Akhilesh Yadav broke rules in giving grants to three Bollywood films: Report

Akhilesh Yadav had violated set rules in providing three Bollywood films with grants of Rs 1 crore each, a report by Uttar Pradesh’s Information and Public Relations Department that was given to activist Dr Nutan Thakur has revealed.

According to a Zee News report, Thakur had sought information on grants given to films by the state government between 2012 and 2017. She discovered that Yadav, who was Uttar Pradesh CM at the time, had flouted the rules with regard to three films: Bullet Raja, Dedh Ishquia, and Ya Rab.

Information provided by the department reportedly shows that Rahul Mishra - director of Bullet Raja - had requested that while shooting for the film is over, he should be given the grant. Acting on his request, and instead of giving the grant in three installments, the same was provided in one-go.  

Similarly in the case of Dedh Ishquya, director Vishal Bharadwaj had asked the Uttar Pradesh government for an approval, and similarly the approvals were given in a single installment. The third movie Ya Rab was also granted installments in a similar manner.

 Interestingly, in the 'Most Film Friendly Award 2017' of Ministry of Information and Broadcasting earlier this year, UP received a special mention for having created a film-friendly ecosystem.