Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday released the party’s manifesto titled 'Congress Will Deliver' for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi was joined by other top party leaders, including P Chidambaram, Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi. Addressing the media at the party's Akbar Road headquarters in New Delhi, Gandhi said, "When we started the process of making it, I pointed out that it should be truthful, there should not be a single lie and it should not be a closed-door process."
Here are the key highlights from the Congress’ manifesto:
Employment
* All of the 4 lakh vacancies as on 1 April 2019 in the Central Government, Central Public Sector Enterprises, Judiciary and Parliament will be filled before the end of March 2020.
* Create a new Ministry of Industry, Services and Employment.
* Create an estimated 10 lakh Seva Mitra positions in every gram panchayat and urban local body.
* Launch a ‘Water Bodies Restoration Mission’ and ‘Wasteland Regeneration Mission’ to create 1 crore jobs.
* Exempt new businesses from applicable laws and regulations (except Minimum Wages Act and tax laws) for a period of 3 years.
* Application fees for government examinations and government posts will be abolished.
* Reward businesses that create new jobs by lowering the effective direct tax rates and by lowering contributions to the CSR fund.
* Redesign MGNREGA and provide for: Increasing the guaranteed days of employment up to 150 days in cases where 100 days have been achieved in a block/district; Use of labour in the Waterbodies Restoration and the Wasteland Regeneration Missions; Building village-level assets such as primary health centres, classrooms, libraries etc.
NYAY: Nyuntam Aay Yojana (Minimum Income Support Programme)
* The target population will be 5 crore families, who constitute the poorest 20 percent of all Indian families.
* Each family will be guaranteed a cash transfer of Rs 72,000 a year.
* As far as possible, the money will be transferred to the account of a woman of the family.
* The rollout will be implemented in phases; Congress will appoint an independent panel of eminent economists, social scientists and statisticians to oversee the design, testing, rollout and implementation of the programme.
* The estimated cost will be less than 1 percent of GDP in the first year. The costs will be less than 2 percent of GDP in the second year and thereafter.
Agriculture, Farmers and Farm Labour
* Congress promises to establish a permanent National Commission on Agricultural Development and Planning.
* Re-design the Fasal Bima Yojana (Crop Insurance Scheme). Direct insurance companies to offer crop insurance and charge premiums on the principle of ‘no profit, no loss.’
* Review the prices of agricultural inputs, extend subsidies where necessary, and establish facilities to hire farm machinery.* Repeal the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act and make trade in agricultural produce—including exports and inter-state trade—free from all restrictions.
* Promote organic farming, encourage farmers to use mixed fertilizers and pesticides, support verification of organic products, and help them secure better prices for organic products.
* Establish a College of Agriculture and a College of Veterinary Sciences in every district of the country.
* Changes in the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013 and the Forest Rights Act, 2006 will be removed and the original purposes of the Acts restored and enforced.
Goods and Services Tax (GST)
* Real Estate (all sectors), Petroleum Products, Tobacco and Liquor will be brought within the ambit of GST 2.0 in a manner and time period not exceeding 2 years agreed to in the GST Council.
* Essential goods of mass consumption (such as food grains, lifesaving drugs, vaccines, etc.) and essential services will be exempted from GST 2.0 or zero-rated.
* All goods and services that are exported will be zero-rated and not subject to GST 2.0.
* Threshold exemption for small businesses will not be affected by inter-state supply of goods or services.* There will be no GST liability on the purchaser through the reverse charge mechanism.
* Congress promises to abolish the e-way bill.
* Congress will endeavor to allocate a share of GST revenues to Panchayats and Municipalities
Electoral Reforms
* We will scrap the opaque Electoral Bond Scheme that was designed to favour the ruling party
* Congress promises to set up a National Election Fund to which any person may make a contribution. Funds will be allocated at the time of elections to recognised political parties in accordance with criteria laid down by law.
* Congress will ensure that EVMs and VVPATs are tamperproof. During counting, the count in at least 50 per cent of the EVMs will be matched against the physical count of the voting slips in the corresponding VVPATs.
Income tax
* Congress promises to enact the Direct Taxes Code in the first year of our government.
* Reasonable and progressive rates having regard to the level of current incomes, income inequalities and the principles of tax equity.
* Taxpayer will be required to file a simple, single quarterly return for his/her business and an annual return.
* Every taxpayer will be subject to assessment by a single authority based upon turnover.
Rights of LGBTQIA+
* Ensure the effective implementation of the judgment in the Navtej Singh Johar case.
* Immediately withdraw the Transgender Bill, 2018, pending in Parliament. A new Bill will be drafted in consultation with the LGBTQIA+ community
* Gender sensitivity training, especially for the rights of the LGBTQIA+ community, be made mandatory in all government departments and organisations including the Armed Forces and the Police Forces.
Economic Policy
* Fiscal Deficit: Achieve the target of 3 percent of GDP by 2020-21 and remain under that limit. The revenue deficit will be contained, as far as possible, under 1 per cent of GDP.
* Monetary Policy: Respect the autonomy of the RBI in matters reserved to the RBI. However, the governor shall periodically render an account to a committee of Parliament.
* Manufacturing: Adopt policies to increase the share of manufacturing from the current level of 16 per cent to 25 percent in a period of 5 years.
* Startup: The Angel Tax imposed on Start-Ups will be withdrawn completely.
* Disinvest from non-core, non-strategic central public sector enterprises.
* Banking: Congress will amalgamate 2 or more PSBs so that there will be only 6-8 PSBs with a national presence and reach. Congress promises to review and strengthen the regulatory regime of NBFCs in order to prevent such failures and to restore investor confidence. New Development Banks in order to provide long-term credit to development and infrastructure projects
Jammu & Kashmir
* Take the path of dialogue to understand the aspirations of the people of the 3 regions of Jammu & Kashmir and find an honourable solution to their issues. Congress will appoint 3 interlocutors drawn from civil society to facilitate such talks.
* Two-pronged approach: (i) uncompromising firmness on the border and ending infiltration (ii) absolute fairness in dealing with the demands of the people.
* Reduce the presence of the Army and CAPFs in the Kashmir Valley, and entrust more responsibility to the J&K police for maintaining law and order
* The Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) and the Disturbed Areas Act in J&K will be reviewed. Suitable changes will be made in the text of the laws to balance the requirements of security and the protection of human rights
* Free and fair elections to the State Legislative Assembly will be held immediately.
Healthcare
* Government expenditure on healthcare will be doubled to 3 per cent of GDP by the year 2023-24. The Annual Budgets will indicate the step up in each year in order to achieve the target in 2023-24.
* Right to Healthcare Act that will guarantee to every citizen the right to healthcare services
* Increase the number of doctors, including specialist doctors, significantly by establishing more medical colleges, increasing the capacity of medical colleges and providing scholarships and loans to medical students
* License pre-qualified institutions in the public sector and private sector to teach and certify medical professionals such as nurses, paramedics and medical technicians
* All vacancies at all levels in PHCs and in public hospitals are filled within a period of 1 year.
* Appoint a second ASHA worker in all villages with a population exceeding 2500 persons
First Published: Apr 2, 2019 2:03 PM IST
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