Congress releases manifesto for 2019, focus on NYAY, farmers and jobs
New Delhi, Apr 02: The Congress on Tuesday released its manifesto for the upcoming general elections with focus on NYAY, farmers and jobs.
The manifesto titled 'Congress will deliver' focused on agrarian crisis and unemployment, and the ambitious scheme NYAY guaranteeing a minimum income scheme guaranteeing Rs 72,000 a year to the bottom most or poorest 20 per cent of households.
"Manifesto a result of year-long process. There are no false promises made. We are reflecting people's voice. The Congress manifesto promises LGBT rights, rights for minorities, women empowerment, NYAY scheme," Rahul said after launching the manifesto.
Congress manifesto Key announcements
22 lakh government jobs till 31 March, 2020
Separate budget for farmers, agriculture sector
MGNREGA 150 days instead of 100 days.
6 per cent of GDP on education
10 lakh jobs in Gram Panchayats
As per the initial announcement made by Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, the party has promised to provide minimum income of Rs 6,000 a month to households that earn below Rs 12,000 per month. While the party said it had consulted with experts, including former RBI chief Raghuram Rajan, to design the scheme, it said details of the data relied upon would be revealed in the manifesto.
According to the party's official estimates, at the end of the process, which took more than six months, it had received 31,875 inputs on its official manifesto website. More than 4,038 people sent their inputs via WhatsApp and a total of 876 e-mails were received, giving suggestions for the manifesto. Interestingly, a total of 41 petitions were created on the website Change.org for the manifesto, which received a cumulative 1,61,492 signatures.
The manifesto committee, which was chaired by former Union minister P. Chidambaram, was divided into 20 different sub groups which went into specific issues such as economy, agriculture, education and industry, among others. It held consultations in 57 Indian cities and in Dubai, which was a two-day event with participants from other countries as well.