The 'detailed plan' laid out in the Congress manifesto is under the heads of Kaam, Daam, Shaan, Samman, Sushasan and Swabhimaan.

Under Kaam, the party has said that it sees unemployment as 'the gravest challenge to the country' and so job creation should be the 'highest priority for the economy'.

It said that the government's own figures 'unemployment is touching a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent', but that the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy has put the number at 7.2 per cent.

To tackle the job crisis, the party, if voted to power, will create a new ministry of industry, services and employment, the document said.

The document showed that the COngress's focus would be on MSMEs, for which the party would bring in a new categorisation taking into account the number of people employed in a business, not the size of the business. It would also allow fiscal incentives to companies employing a certain number of women, offer rebates to companies that are export-oriented and allow regulatory forbearance for Micro and Small Enterprises for three years. Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has already mentioned the last point in his campaign speeches.

'All of the 4 lakh vacancies as on 1st April 2019 in the Central Government, Central Public Sector Enterprises, Judiciary and Parliament will be filled before the end of March 2020,' the Congress has pledged. The party will also 'request State Governments to fill all vacancies, estimated at 20 lakh'.

The party promised to end the practice of application fees for government examinations and posts. It will pay para-state workers, such as anganwadi and Asha workers, 'more than minimum wage and all arrears', the manifesto said.

About the manufacturing sector, the party said it would 'trigger rapid growth', particularly of medium and small-scale enterprises (MSMEs), by providing 'world-class infrastructure in industrial hubs and cluster towns in order to aid the expansion of current units and the creation of new ones'. The party has promised an enterprise support agency to help entrepreneurs, including start-ups, with all-round business support, including for counselling, incubation, access to technology, funding, domestic and export markets, among other things.

Under the regulatory forbearance, Micro and Small Enterprises will be exempt from all applicable laws and regulations (except the minimum wages act and tax laws) for a period of 3 years from April 1, 2019, or in the case of new businesses, from the date of commencement of business. 'This means freedom from ‘Inspector Raj’ until they stabilise,' the manifesto said.

The main job-creating sectors are construction, textiles, leather, gems and jewellery, entertainment, tourism, and retail businesses, the document said. 'We will reward businesses that create new jobs by lowering their effective direct tax rates and by lowering contributions to the CSR fund,' the party said.

For low-skilled jobs, the party wants to launch two programmes - one for repair and restoration of water bodies (‘Water Bodies Restoration Mission’), the second for regeneration and afforestation of wasteland and degraded land (‘Wasteland Regeneration Mission’).

Businesses employing 100 persons or more will need to start an apprenticeship programmes to impart skills and pay a stipend. The businesses will employ from among the trained apprentices whenever a job or a vacancy is created. 'We will amend The Companies (Corporate Social Responsibility Policy) Rules, 2014, to include ‘Apprenticeship’,' the party said.