The Congress on Wednesday promised to give Rs 1 lakh every year to one woman of every poor household as part of the five-point Nari Nyay guarantee, unveiling a new justice regime for farmers, youth, women and caste representation.
Mazdoor Nyay for workers will be announced in a couple of days.
So far, the Congress has announced 17 guarantees in the new justice scheme. Three more, probably including the Right to Healthcare Act, will be added to form a new 20-point pledge to “change the face of India”. These guarantees will form the spine of the Congress campaign in the parliamentary election aimed at evicting Narendra Modi from power to end what the party has described as a decade of “Anyay Kaal”.
Though the BJP, too, has built its campaign on “Modi ki Guarantee”, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday asserted that the party’s promises were not political “jumlas” and the people should judge them based on their track record.
Rahul Gandhi said: “Starting with the freedom movement, it is the Congress that has brought about all the revolutionary changes and the new justice regime will change India forever.”
A dole of Rs 1 lakh to a woman from every poor household a year sounds astonishing in this vast country but the scheme, named “Mahalakshmi”, will target only the poorest families. The Congress had envisaged a minimum income guarantee to address wretched poverty and the party might have now decided to execute the plan through the Mahalakshmi scheme by identifying a woman in the family as the principal beneficiary.
The Congress has been giving Rs 2,000 every month to 1.9 crore women in every family in Karnataka. A similar scheme has been launched in Himachal Pradesh where around five lakh women will get Rs 1,500 every month. In Telangana, too, the party has promised Rs 3,000 every month to poor women. The Congress has ignored criticism over alleged populism, insisting that money in the hands of the poor rev up economic activities.
The other promises of the five-point Nari Nyay are 50 per cent posts in central government jobs to be reserved for women; central contribution to the remuneration for ASHA workers and Anganwadi members and women who cook mid-day meals to be doubled; appointment of one Adhikar Maitri in every panchayat and at least one hostel for working women in every district named after Savitribai Phule.
There are 2.5 lakh panchayats in India, which means at least 2.5 lakh new Adhikar Maitris, who will create awareness among women about their rights and government’s schemes, will be appointed. Savitribai Phule hostels for working women exist even today but the party has now promised to extend the scheme and double the number of hostels across the country.
While Rahul made these announcements at a women’s conference in Maharashtra’s Dhule, Kharge sent a video message for the function.
Kharge said Modi had made women’s lives more miserable with rising prices and crimes. “What we say is cast in stone. We have been making manifestoes when our opponents were not even born,” he tweeted, explaining how all the guarantees had been fulfilled in Karnataka.
Party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh said: “When we introduced MGNREGA, experts asked about money. The scheme has been in operation for 20 years. When we brought the Food Security Act, questions about resources cropped up again...."