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

An activist, Dr Nutan Thakur, had sought information on grants provided by UP to films between 2012 and 2017.

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New Delhi: Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav violated set rules in providing three Bollywood films with grants of Rs 1 crore each. This has been revealed in information given to activist Dr Nutan Thakur who had approached the state's Information and Public Relation Department.

Dr Thakur had sought information on grants given to films by the state government between 2012 and 2017 and it was in what she received that it was discovered that rules were broken with regards to three films. The information provided 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 instalments, the same was provided in one-go. Akhilesh reportedly approved this on November 26 of 2013. The film was released a few days later.

Another film which received grant under suspicious circumstances was Dedh Ishqiya. Acting on director Vishal Bharadwaj's request, the same procedure was followed and the approval given by the then CM on December 28 of 2013. The third movie to receive grant from the then UP government was Ya Rab and it received the necessary approval on March 13 of 2014.

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. In it Madhya Pradesh took top honours.