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The Indian National Congress on April 2 released its manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections. The document was released by Congress President Rahul Gandhi in the presence of former prime minister Manmohan Singh and United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Speaking at the launch event, Rahul Gandhi spoke about a range of issues and key points promised in the party’s manifesto.
Here are the top promises made by the Congress in its manifesto named ‘We Will Deliver’:
> Congress has promised to fill 22 lakh government vacancies by March 2020 and increase job guarantee under the MGNREGA scheme from 100 days to 150 days. Plus, 10 lakh youth will get jobs in gram panchayats.
> The party has promised to have a separate Budget for farmers, similar to what used to be for the Railways.
> Youngsters will not have to take any permission while setting up a business for the first three years.
> The party has promised to roll out the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) scheme, under which Rs 72,000 would be deposited in bank accounts of the women belonging to poor families, annually.
> Congress has promised that 6 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will go towards education.
> Farmers’ loan default will not be considered ‘criminal offence’.
> On the issue of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress has said they would review deployment of armed forces and Armed Forces (Special Powers) Acts (AFSPA). It has also promised to appoint three Interlocutors.
> The party has promised to establish a strong public healthcare system. The focus will be that even the poorest will have access to high-quality health treatment, the manifesto states.
> The party has promised to review and replace the current Goods and Services Tax (GST) with ‘GST 2.0’. GST 2.0 will be based on a single and standard tax rate on all goods and services, the manifesto adds. The single tax rate will be revenue neutral to the current indirect tax revenue of the Centre and the state governments. The 'GST 2.0' regime will levy a special rate of duty on demerit goods.
> Congress promises to immediately withdraw the Citizenship Amendment Bill introduced by the BJP-led government against the wishes of the people of the Northeast. It also promised to ensure that no citizen of India is denied inclusion in the final National Register of Citizens.
> The party has reiterated its promise to introduce 33 percent reservation for women in government jobs.
> Congress has promised scrapping of NITI Aayog, safeguarding minority status of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) and constitutional status of National Commission for Women (NCW) as well.
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