The Congress today released its manifesto ahead of Lok Sabha polls to announce a plethora of programmes if elected to power, in order to correct the course of what it called an \u2018economic emergency\u2019 in the country under the Narendra Modi government.<\/p>\n
Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of having failed to deliver on its promises, \u00a0Congress president Rahul Gandhi stated that everything in the manifesto \u2018must be truthful\u2019 with no false promises.<\/p>\n
Speaking in New Delhi in the presence of senior Congress leaders like Sonia Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, P. Chidambaram among others, the Congress president announced a few key ideas his party was committed to implementing if voted to rule.<\/p>\n
Firstly, acknowledging that farmers\u2019 distress was a real concern for his party, Rahul Gandhi stated that farmers defaulting on loans would no longer face criminal charges. It would instead be deemed as a civil offence.<\/p>\n
Secondly, his party has promised the sum of Rs 75,000 per year to five crore of the poorest families under the \u2018Nyay\u2019 scheme. The money would go directly into the accounts of the farmers, the manifesto states.<\/p>\n
Third, a single-slab Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be implemented across the country if the party is voted to power to streamline the process of tax-calculation and tax-collection.<\/p>\n
Fourthly, Rahul Gandhi also noted that the Congress intends to fill up 22 lakh government job vacancies. Pointing out that there was the need to \u2018jump-start\u2019 the economy after the setback it had suffered under the BJP rule, the Congress president also added that 150 days\u2019 of employment will be guaranteed by the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) by his party.<\/p>\n
Fifth, anyone starting a business would enjoy a \u2018three-year tax holiday\u2019 and also be able to start his enterprise \u2018without any permits or clearances\u2019, stated the Congress chief.<\/p>\n
Next, ten lakh jobs will be created for the youth as per the manifesto and they would be engaged in afforestation and water body revival projects in rural belts.<\/p>\n
Also, six percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) would be allocated to the education sector, stated Rahul Gandhi as promised by the Congress manifesto.<\/p>\n
Describing the manifesto to be one which will usher in an economy which is \u2018inclusive and forward-looking\u2019, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated that it \u2018spells out the vision\u2019 of the party. \u2018All sections of society\u2019 will be \u2018taken care of\u2019, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Congress will deliver, it says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":279,"featured_media":5032,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"adace-sponsor":[],"class_list":["post-5031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n