Cong vows to end poverty by 2030, create jobs

The Congress on Tuesday promised to rid the country of poverty by 2030 and tackle the challenges posed by growing unemployment, as it released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections.

The highlight of ‘Congress Will Deliver’ — the 50-page document released by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh — was the promise for minimum income guarantee (or ‘Nyay’ — Nyuntam Aay Yojana), a separate budget for farmers (Kisan Budget) to address agrarian distress and a “shock therapy” to restart the stalled economy. The party also asked voters to choose harmony over hatred.

Rahul’s attempt through the hour-long function was to bring the pre-election narrative on the burning issues of jobs, economy and farm distress from the present focus on national security, which is seen beneficial to the BJP. He also coined a new slogan for the election campaign — Garibi par Vaar, Bahattar Hazaar (War against poverty, Rs 72,000).

With unemployment at a 45-year high of 6.1%, the Congress president promised to fill four lakh vacancies in the central government by March next year and request the state governments to recruit 20 lakh personnel against vacancies, particularly in healthcare and education sectors.