PUDUCHERRY: If the DMK and the AIADMK are wooing voters in Tamil Nadu with promises of free grinders, mixies, and laptops, in the Union territory, the ruling Congress has gone a step further. It has said if it returned to power it will give BPL (below the poverty line) families free mobile phones, refrigerator or water purifier to all families, laptops to students pursuing professional courses, cots to poor agricultural labourers and cycles for labourers in the unorganized sector.
The 16-page manifesto, released by Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president A V Subramanian in the presence of Union minister of state for planning and parliamentary affairs V Narayanasamy and chief minister V Vaithilingam on Friday, includes a slew of freebies and welfare measures targeting almost all sections. However, concrete policies in generating adequate revenue to fund populist schemes and ensure all-round development were missing.
Educational assistance has been promised for students selected for professional courses through the centralized admission committee. Medical students will be given Rs 2 lakh a year while engineering students will get Rs 40,000 a year. They will also get free laptops with internet connectivity.
Those not selected through CENTAC and whose family income is below Rs two lakh a year will get a subsidy to meet educational expenses. The party has promised to pay the interest on educational loans of students, provide 50% subsidy for poor college students to purchase laptops, extend free computer and typewriting classes for students from class 9 to 12, provide free bus passes for students and exclusive buses for girl students and free education for the differently-abled.
BPL school students will get an assistance of Rs 500 a month, while poor college students would have their fees be paid and books and notebooks provided. All school students will get Rs 500 at the start of the academic year for stationery items.
BPL families will get a subsidy of Rs 1,500 a month for grocery items.
On the health front, the party promised free super-specialty treatment for children below one year. It promised to introduce an insurance scheme for all BPL families, construction workers, workers in the unorganized sector and small traders. Those in the unorganized sector, including maids, will be given cycles.
The party will provide a cot for every agricultural labourer family in the territory.
Women will get a 50% subsidy to buy tempos and necessary permit to operate transport services connecting villages with arterial roads. Poor farmers will get a subsidy of Rs 2.5 lakh to buy 10 cows and establish cattle farms while women farmers will get subsidies to establish chicken farms.
Senior citizens will be given free bus passes and persons above 50 years whose annual income is less than Rs 75,000 will get Rs 500 a month for medical expenses.
Promising employment for at least one person in a family, the party vowed to establish an informational technology park on the lines of Chennai's Tidel Park to generate employment.
The manifesto also included a proposal to form a "Lokayukta" to curb corruption in the government.
The 16-page manifesto, released by Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee president A V Subramanian in the presence of Union minister of state for planning and parliamentary affairs V Narayanasamy and chief minister V Vaithilingam on Friday, includes a slew of freebies and welfare measures targeting almost all sections. However, concrete policies in generating adequate revenue to fund populist schemes and ensure all-round development were missing.
Educational assistance has been promised for students selected for professional courses through the centralized admission committee. Medical students will be given Rs 2 lakh a year while engineering students will get Rs 40,000 a year. They will also get free laptops with internet connectivity.
Those not selected through CENTAC and whose family income is below Rs two lakh a year will get a subsidy to meet educational expenses. The party has promised to pay the interest on educational loans of students, provide 50% subsidy for poor college students to purchase laptops, extend free computer and typewriting classes for students from class 9 to 12, provide free bus passes for students and exclusive buses for girl students and free education for the differently-abled.
BPL school students will get an assistance of Rs 500 a month, while poor college students would have their fees be paid and books and notebooks provided. All school students will get Rs 500 at the start of the academic year for stationery items.
BPL families will get a subsidy of Rs 1,500 a month for grocery items.
On the health front, the party promised free super-specialty treatment for children below one year. It promised to introduce an insurance scheme for all BPL families, construction workers, workers in the unorganized sector and small traders. Those in the unorganized sector, including maids, will be given cycles.
The party will provide a cot for every agricultural labourer family in the territory.
Women will get a 50% subsidy to buy tempos and necessary permit to operate transport services connecting villages with arterial roads. Poor farmers will get a subsidy of Rs 2.5 lakh to buy 10 cows and establish cattle farms while women farmers will get subsidies to establish chicken farms.
Senior citizens will be given free bus passes and persons above 50 years whose annual income is less than Rs 75,000 will get Rs 500 a month for medical expenses.
Promising employment for at least one person in a family, the party vowed to establish an informational technology park on the lines of Chennai's Tidel Park to generate employment.
The manifesto also included a proposal to form a "Lokayukta" to curb corruption in the government.
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