KAWARDHA: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday promised free health treatment up to Rs 10 lakh for the poor under an existing scheme in Chhattisgarh if his party retains power in the assembly polls next month.
Addressing election rallies in the Rajnandgaon district headquarters and Kawardha (the headquarters of Kabirdham district), Gandhi also said agricultural landless labourers (in rural areas) will be given Rs 10,000 per year in place of the existing Rs 7,000.
In a swipe at BJP, he said the "amount of money they give to Adani, we will give the same to labourers, farmers and small traders of Chhattisgarh".
He reiterated the Congress' commitment to conduct a caste census in the country if the party is voted to power at the Centre.
He said an international airport will be set up in Chhattisgarh to help farmers export their produce after the Congress forms government at the Centre.
"Our Guarantee: Under Dr Khubchand Baghel Health Assistance Scheme, the poor will get free treatment facility up to Rs 10 lakh in place of the existing Rs 5 lakh, while others will get up to Rs 5 lakh in place of the existing Rs 50,000 (if Congress retains power in the state)," Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel wrote on his 'X' handle after Gandhi's address at Rajnandgaon.
Gandhi said the Congress government is for the poor, labourers, farmers, backward classes, tribals and Dalits and it listens to the "voice of their hearts".
"You need not speak, we can hear the voice of your hearts. This morning, Baghel ji and I did some work for farmers and labourers and spoke to them. They told us that what the Congress government has done for them in five years, no other government has done ever," he said. Look at the way the Congress party works, the Congress leader said.
He said Congress works for the poor, labourers, farmers, backward classes, tribals and Dalits, whereas the BJP-led Centre works for billionaires like Adani.
"Whatever Modi ji and BJP see, they privatise it. They privatise hospitals, schools, and colleges and hand them over to billionaires. We don't want such a country (where everything is privatised).
The work of the government is to protect the poor, and run schools, colleges, universities and hospitals", he said in Kawardha.
Accusing the BJP-led Centre of waiving loans of select industrialists, Gandhi said, "The money Prime Minister Narendra Modi gives to Adani, we will give the same to labourers, farmers and small traders of Chhattisgarh".
He reiterated if Congress retains power in Chhattisgarh, free education will be provided in government institutions to students from "KG (kindergarten) to PG (post-graduation)".
"As of now, we don't have a government in Delhi (Centre) so we will work in Chhattisgarh. You see what happens if we get elected in Delhi. They have made it fun.
"The country belongs to farmers, labourers, and small traders. It does not have only two to three persons or Adani. You take it on writing from me that I will give as much money to you as they (BJP) give to them (industrialists)," he said.