After the Congress Working Committee meet, party president Rahul Gandhi announced at a press briefing that a sum of Rs 72,000 will be directly transferred into the accounts of the country’s poor under the minimum income scheme.
Putting a figure to the scheme, that he had announced earlier this year, for the first time, Rahul Gandhi said India’s 20 percent most poor families will get the benefit of the minimum basic income guarantee scheme.
Rahul Gandhi told mediapersons that 5 crore families and 25 crore people will directly benefit from this scheme. Gandhi said the Congress has studied the fiscal implications of the scheme and consulted renowned economists and experts before finalising it.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi: Agar kisi ki aamdani 12,000 se kam hai to hum us vyakti ki aamdani ko 12,000 rupaye tak phauncha denge. https://t.co/TpUFZ3hcye— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2019
Calling the scheme “unprecedented” and “the final assault on poverty”, Rahul Gandhi said, “Congress party will provide income support to people earning less than Rs 12,000 per month.”
Rahul Gandhi’s announcement, ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections, can be seen as a counter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s KISAN scheme, in which he promised a sum of Rs 6000 annually to farmers.
After the announcement was made in this year's Interim Budget, the Congress had castigated the move calling it a "humiliation to the farmers".
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