NEW DELHI: The BJP on Sunday released its much-awaited ‘Sankalp Patra’, poll manifesto, for the Lok Sabha elections which was hailed by the party’s Delhi unit, calling it the roadmap for development in the next two-and-a-half decades.
The manifesto targets GYAN, a political acronym that stands for the ‘Gareeb’ (poor), ‘Yuva’ (youth), ‘Annadaata’ (farmers), and ‘Nari’ (women), besides the 24 guarantees of Prime Minister Narendra Modi dubbed “Modi ki Guarantee”. However, the question is, what do Delhi residents stand to gain from the proposed schemes?
One of the promises is continuation of free ration for the next five years under PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana. The party claims to have provided free ration to 80+ crore citizens since 2020. For the beneficiaries, the scheme may lighten their burden of earning for daily needs. Wheat gets allocated to six states which also includes Delhi.
The party also promises to develop areas. “We have provided houses to many slum dwellers. We will scale it up with new policies to construct houses on slum land so the low-income families can be rehabilitated into high-quality houses,” an excerpt from the party’s manifesto read. In Delhi, there are 675 slum clusters housing over 15.5 lakh people.
Promise of enhanced rail and metro connectivity and development of comprehensive EV charging stations is also one of the promises.
Notably, in 2022, on average, the city recorded three rapes daily taking the total sexual assault incidents to 1,212, comparatively lesser than the previous year’s 2,076 cases. Yet, the figures were grim as the city stood first among 19 metropolitan cities in terms of crime.
Creation of Viksit Bharat where women have an equal stake in society, forms another promise. While the party listed 10 guarantees for the upliftment of women, from integrating women self-help groups to implementing the ‘Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam’ (reservation for women in the Parliament and the assemblies), only two refer to their safety.
The manifesto aims at further expansion of women help desks at police stations. Besides, the party plans to strengthen the Emergency Response Support System and enhance the capabilities of Emergency Helpline 112, a much-needed step towards women’s safety.
Another point, which if implemented would benefit Delhi residents, is a promise to provide a robust elderly-care ecosystem. Delhi-NCR has a total population of over 2 crore with over 8% of the total population here above 60 years of age. Delhi alone has elderly population of over 12 lakhs.
‘Women-centric’
While the BJP has listed ten guarantees for the upliftment of women, from integrating women self-help groups to implementing reservation for women in the Parliament and assemblies, the manifesto also aims expand women help desks at police stations and strengthen the Emergency Response Support System and Emergency Helpline.