BHUBANESWAR: With an eye on women voters who constitute nearly 50 per cent of the state’s electorate, the BJP on Saturday promised to launch ‘Subhadra Yojana’ under which every woman will a get cash voucher of Rs 50,000, if it comes to power.
Releasing the ‘Sankalp Patra’ (election manifesto) with the stamp of Modi’s guarantee for Odisha Assembly elections that will be held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls commencing May 13, BJP national president JP Nadda said the voucher can be encashed over a period of two years.
The scheme is aimed at empowering women through financial assistance but the real motive is to wean women members of self help groups (SHGs) from the grip of BJD. The women SHGs are considered the major vote bank of BJD.
The saffron party has also promised to increase the remuneration of anganwadi workers to Rs 12,000 and anganwadi heplers to Rs 8,000 per month. Just before announcement of the general elections, the state government had increased the monthly salary of anganwadi workers from Rs 7,500 to Rs 10,000, mini anganwadi workers from Rs 5,378 to Rs 7,250 and anganwadi sahayikas from Rs 3,750 to Rs 5,000. The state has around 1.48 lakh anganwadi workers and helpers.
Nadda said the NDA government has empowered one crore rural women to become ‘Lakhpati Didis’. The party now aims to create 25 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ in Odisha by 2027. The party further promised it will request the Central government to include ASHA workers in National Health Mission (NHM) permanently.
“We will power Odisha into a top performing economy and create over 3.5 lakh jobs by 2029 by developing an industrial corridor connecting Rourkela, Sambalpur, Paradeep and Dhamra by 2027. We will also set up four state-of-the-art IT parks in Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Balasore,” the manifesto said.
The party promised to fill up 1.5 lakh vacant government posts in a fair and transparent manner. Recruitment for 65,000 posts will be completed within two years of BJP coming to power. Nadda added.
The BJP also promised to procure paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal and ensure the payment is transferred to farmers within 48 hours through DBT. Special emphasis will be laid on the need to eliminate the practice of katni-chhatni. Moreover, the manifesto has also promised to increase the lean period allowance to Rs 10,000 for every fisherman in the state.
The BJP president said his party will undo the wrongs done by the BJD government by implementing Ayushman Bharat scheme within 100 days of coming to power. It promises to establish 36,000 beds in CHCs and PHCs, modernise every CHC with ICUs, dialysis units, and operation theatres along with establishing a nursing college, a medical college and a super-specialty hospital in every district.
“For us, manifesto is a very serious document. It will be our implementation programme for the next five years. On coming to power, the party will constitute a cabinet sub-committee on manifesto to monitor the progress of implementation of promises made every month,” said Nadda.
State party president Manmohan Samal, MPs Aparajita Sarangi and Jual Oram, national vice president Baijayant Panda, spokesperson and party’s Puri candidate Sambit Patra along with senior leaders Samir Mohanty and Bimbadhar Kuanr were present.
Promises
Rs 50,000 cash voucher for every woman
1.5 lakh govt posts to be filled up
3.5 lakh job creation
25 lakh Lakhpati Didis by 2027
Rs 3,100 per quintal paddy
Rs 10,000 lean period allowance for fishermen
36,000 beds in CHCs, PHCs
Medical college, nursing college in every district