NEW DELHI: In a bid to win the support of the youth, the Congress on Friday promised a slew of measures if it comes to power, including a right to apprenticeship act and filling up 30 lakh vacancies in the central government.
In its Lok Sabha polls manifesto, the Congress also promised setting up fast-track courts to adjudicate cases of leaking question papers for job examinations.
Besides, the Congress government will give a one-time relief to the applicants who were unable to write the qualifying public examinations from April 1, 2020 to June 30, 2021 due to the pandemic, the manifesto said.
"We will abolish application fees for government examinations and government posts," it said.
The Congress guaranteed a new right to apprenticeship act to provide a one-year apprenticeship with a private or a public sector company to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25.
"Apprentices will get Rs 1 lakh a year. The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth. We will provide fast-track courts to adjudicate cases of leaking question papers for job examinations and provide monetary compensation to the victims," the party said.
The Congress poll manifesto also promised to fill the nearly 30 lakh vacancies in the sanctioned posts at various levels in the central government.
"We will stipulate that vacancies in the panchayats and municipal bodies shall be filled according to a timetable agreed with state governments," the party said.
The Congress said it will restructure the Fund of Funds Scheme for start-ups and allocate 50 per cent of the available fund, as far as possible, equally among all districts.
This step will be taken for providing funds to the youth below 40 years of age to help them start their own businesses and generate employment.
Due to the widespread unemployment, as a one-time measure of relief, the due amount, including unpaid interest as on March 15, 2024 in respect of all student educational loans, will be written off and the banks will be compensated by the government, the party said.
The Congress said it will provide sports scholarships of Rs 10,000 per month for talented and budding sportspersons below the age of 21.
Asked whether the 2024 polls will be about Congress' Nyay guarantees' versus 'Modi Ki Guarantee', senior party leader and manifesto committee head P Chidambaram said the Congress guarantees are concrete guarantees.
"We have spelt out in English and Hindi and in due course, in different languages, what each guarantee means, what each guarantee will deliver to the people.
Mr Modi's guarantees are only in order to ensure that his guarantee gets the third term job.
Where is the guarantee? "What happened to the guarantee of two crore jobs? What happened to the guarantee of 15 lakh in the account of every Indian? What happened to the guarantee of doubling farmers income?" he said.
He also asked what happened to the guarantee of raising India's GDP to 5 trillion.
"I can often narrate at least 50 such promises of Mr Modi. Mr Modi's promises are empty promises, our 25 guarantees are concrete guarantees," he said.
The Congress also resolved to launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer.
"The poor will be identified among the families in the bottom of the income pyramid. The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the oldest woman of the household," the party said.
If a woman is absent, it will be transferred to the account of the oldest member of the family, it said.
The scheme will be rolled out in stages and reviewed every year to assess the number of beneficiary families and its impact on alleviating poverty, the party said.
The party hit out at the BJP over the women's reservation Act, saying the Constitution (106th) Amendment Act marks the ruling party's "great betrayal" of women.
"The Amendment Act contains sinister provisions that will allow the reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies to come into operation only beyond 2029. The Congress will delete the sinister provisions and bring the Amendment Act into force immediately," the party said.
The one-third reservation for women will be applied to the state assemblies that will be elected in the next round of assembly elections in 2025, it said.
The Congress said one-third reservation for women will also be applied to the Lok Sabha that will be elected in 2029.
"We will reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025," the party said.
"We will ensure that more women are appointed to high positions such as judges, secretaries to government, high ranking police officers, law officers and directors on the boards of listed companies," it said.
The party said it will appoint an 'Adhikar Maitri' in every panchayat to serve as a paralegal to educate women and assist them in the enforcement of their legal rights.
In its promises to farmers, the Congress said it will give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the government every year, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission.
The party promised that Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) will be made a statutory body.
The MSP payable to the farmer-seller at the procurement centres and APMCs will be directly credited digitally to the bank account of the farmer, it said.
"Congress will formulate and implement a sound import-export policy for agricultural commodities, which will give paramount importance to protecting the interests and concerns of farmers," the party said.