Padma Mohanty
New Delhi: The Congress party has released its manifesto on 2nd April 2019 before the Elections which will be starting from April 11th 2019. In the event Congress President Rahul Gandhi, former president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former finance minister P Chidambaram, former PM Manmohan Singh and other leaders of Congress were present. The main objective of this event was to publicize the things that the Congress will be doing if they come into powers.
The manifesto’s name is ‘WE WILL DELIVER’, in Hindi ‘HUM NIBHAYENGE’. It took one long year to make this manifesto. Rahul Gandhi said before the manifesto was made he told the committee that the manifesto should reflect the wishes of the people of India and there should not be any lie in it. According to Manifesto committee president P Chidambaram the manifesto guarantees two things wealth and welfare.
What All Things Are There in the 53 paged Manifesto:-
Regarding Jobs:
- 34 lakh jobs in the public sector- 4 lakh central government vacancies will be filled by March 2020, state government will be asked to fill their 20 lakh vacancies.
- Launch MGNREGA 3.0 i.e minimum income support; which was earlier 100 days and if Congress will be in powers then it will be 150 days.
- New Ministry of Industry, Services and Employment will be initiated to keep track of the industry and services sectors and creation of jobs as soon as possible.
- No application fees will be there for government examinations and government posts.
For Farmers:
- Defaulter of farm debt will be considered as civil liability not criminal
- Introduction of ‘Kisan Budget’ which will focus on farmers.
- Extension of farm loan wavier to all the states.
‘NYAY’ (Nyuntam Aay Yojana) Scheme:
- The five crore poorest family will get Rs 72,000 per year, it will be given to the woman of the family as far as possible.
A new planning commission:
- Planning Commission will be made to work on medium and long-term perspective plans, function as an independent body and take independent decision.
GST 2.0
- Current GST will be reviewed and replaced by GST 2.0 which will be based on a single, moderate, standard rate of tax on all the goods and services.
- Revenue neutral rate if compared to the current indirect tax revenues of the Central and State Governments.
- GST revenues in Panchayats and Municipalities- appliances and devices will be rated 0 under the new GST 2.0.
Removing Defamation and Sedition Law:
- Defamation will be a civil offence.
- Omission of section 124A and 4
Special Status Will Be Given To AP, Statehood for Puducherry :
- Special Status to AP and to declare Puducherry as a State.
Withdrawal Of The Trans Bill:
- Immediate withdraw of the trans bill.
- No discrimination will be done for LGBTQIA+ community, in all government departments and organisations including the Armed Forces and the Police Forces.
On Health:
- Free public hospital model will come in place of insurance model.
- National Health Care Policy- every citizen will get free diagostics, out-patient care, medicines in public and some private hospitals.
On Education:
- Right to Education will be mandatory up to class 12th.
- Double GDP allocation to education to 6%.
- Increase the number of Navo Vidyalaya and Kendriya Vidyalayas
For Women:
- 33% seat reservation in Lok Sabha and State Legislature.
- Sexual Harassment of women at workplace act will be more strong and will be extended to all workplaces.
- Some incentives will be given to the business that will employ a certain percentage of women.
- A separate investigation team will be formed to look after crimes against women and children.
Excluding these some other promises are also done by the Congress Party related to abolition of NEET exam, separate fishery ministry will be there, law against hate crimes (like mob-engineered stripping, burning and lynching), improve the situation of Jammu and Kashmir, special category status for the northern eastern states and many more.
Reaction of BJP on Congress Manifesto:
BJP President Amit Shah called the Congress’s manifesto as a pack of lies and an insult to brave Indian Soldiers. PM Modi said that the Congress remembers poor only during the election time.
Time will say how many of them the Congress Fulfills if it comes to power.
