New Delhi: Prior to the first phase of 2019 Lok Sabha elections Congress on Tuesday, unveiled the party manifesto at the All India Congress Committee headquarter located in New Delhi. Congress president divulged the manifesto in the presence of former Prime Minister of India Manmohan Singh along with other senior party leaders. Rahul Gandhi said that the manifesto will be focusing on 5 main agendas.
- One of the major agenda the manifesto is the Nyuntam Aay Yojana “NYAY” scheme which promises INR 72,000 annually to the 20% of the poor people of India. Rahul also stated that the amount will be transferred to the woman in the household, as far as possible.
- Congress has promised to create 10 lakh job opportunities. Taking a jibe at PM Narendra Modi, the Congress Chief that PM cannot hide as he has failed in increasing employment opportunities. Touching the soft corner, Rahul ensured to work on safety of women as well.
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- Congress has also focused on the ‘ease of doing business’, by stating that start-ups will not require permits for upto 3 years. Congress manifesto committee headed by the former Finance Minister of India P Chidambaram is likely to scrap “angel tax” imposed on start-ups. Further, new business would not need any regulatory clearance for three years.
- The party in its manifesto has promised welfare of farmers. Congress will deviate the farmers from the path of 'Karz Maafi' to 'Karz Mukti', the manifesto said. This will be done through remunerative prices, lower input costs, and assured access to institutional credit. Non-repayment of farmer's debt will not be treated as criminal offence but civil offence. The party has promised a separate "Kisan Budget" every year.
- The party has promised to enact the Right to Healthcare Act to guarantee every citizen free diagnostics, free medicines and hospitalisation, through a network of public hospitals and enlisted private hospitals. The party has also promised to double its expenditure on healthcare to 3 per cent of GDP by the year 2023-24.
- Education from Class I to Class XII in public schools shall be compulsory and free, the manifesto said. The party said that it will ensure that schools have adequate infrastructure and qualified teachers. For this, the allocation for education will be doubled to 6 per cent of GDP by 2023-24.
Now all we have to see is whether, Congress will be able to amass the votes of the people on the basis of the released manifesto. If Congress is voted to power, will it be able to fulfil what it promised?