LUCKNOW: Members of the scheduled castes and scheduled tribes can look forward to free education from kindergarten to post graduate level if the Congress government is voted to power.
The promise has been made by the grand old party in its election manifesto called the 'Unnati Vidhan' released by in-charge of UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Lucknow on Wednesday. The manifesto also promises to provide reservation in promotion to members of the two communities.
The party also promised to provide the benefit of reservation to people from Dalit sub categories and form a commission to look into their needs and draw a plan for the upliftment of 'pasmanda' (poor) Muslims.
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The party has also promised to depute an SC leader as the home minister of UP to be able to curb the rising crimes against Dalit community.
In addition to this, the party promised to provide tribal status to Kol community which is listed as a scheduled caste in UP. In other states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhatishgarh and Jharkhand, they are a tribe. The community also quotes references from the scriptures of Mahabharata and Ramayana to prove their tribal status.
Speaking on the occasion, Priyanka Gandhi said: “The Congress manifesto is not just a bunch of promises made in the poll season. A lot of hard work has gone in the development of this document which is a blueprint that also shows how the promise will be fulfilled.”
Other key points in the Congress Party’s general manifesto include:
- Waive farmers’ loan in 10 days of forming the government.
- Slash electricity bill for them to half and waive the bill for the Covid-19 pandemic period.
- Assured MSP of Rs 400 per quintal on sugarcane and Rs 2,500 per quintal on wheat and rice.
- Three free gas cylinders per year to each family.
- Increase honorarium to ASHA anganwadi workers from existing to Rs 10,000 per month.
- Pension of Rs 1,000 to elderly or widow
- 40% reservation to women in government jobs
- Compensation of Rs 3,000 in case of crop damage caused by stray animals
- Launch Chhattisgarh's Godhan Nyay Yojana in which cow dung is procured at a rate of Rs 2 per kilogram.
- End outsourcing and regularize contractual employees in a phased manner.
- Regulaise safai workers.
- Increase honorarium to cooks engaged in government schemes to Rs 5,000.
- Increase salary of village heads to Rs 6.000 and that of village chowkidars to Rs 5,000
- Increase health expenditure to 5% of the state annual budget.
- Compensation of Rs 50 lakh to corona warriors.
- Fill 2 lakh government teacher vacancies.
- Increase pension to persons with disability to Rs 3,000.
- Organise festival dedicated to Ganga in Prayagraj and Varanasi.
- Public holiday on Parshuram Jayanti.
- Home district posting to women police personnel.
- Reserve a seat in the Vidhan Parishad for ex-servicemen.
