At the Congress campaign rally in Vijayapura on Friday, party leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated the guarantees promised in the party manifesto.
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He said that if voted to power, INDI Alliance will release ₹1 lakh to women per year, apart from what they are getting from the State government.
This will mean that each woman will get ₹10,500 per month. “You are clapping in support of the Congress when I speak of the Gruha Lakshmi scheme in Karnataka. You will clap harder when I tell you that we are planning payment of ₹1 lakh per year. India will become the first country in the world to start direct payments to the poor,” he said. The payments will continue till poverty is eradicated, he said.
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“This will be done after collecting data of all families and by choosing a woman from each poor family,” he said. Youth will get cash incentive during the first few years and the government will make consistent efforts to create employment opportunities for them, he said.
He said that the INDI Alliance government, if it were to come to power, will strengthen public institutions in education and health sectors.
“Apart from providing free services, it will give jobs to youth,” he said. MGNREGA will be strengthened. “As soon as our government comes to power, we will waive farm loans. We will provide legal status to MSP and start market intervention schemes,” he said.
“We will scrap the Agnipath scheme that did away with permanent jobs in the army. We will correct all the errors in the GST regime and ensure that all the States are treated fairly during tax redistribution. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has committed injustice to States. This will end,” he said.
“Most importantly, we will not talk about irrelevant and sensational issues, unlike Mr. Modi and his party leaders. We will build a society where there is space and equal opportunities for the poor, women, the minorities, the Hindus, the Dalits and the Adivasis. The Congress will take steps to resolve issues like poverty, unemployment and price rise in the country,” he said.