Chandigarh: The manifesto released by the Congress party for the Punjab Assembly polls promised one lakh jobs in a year and free healthcare if the party comes to power.
To start with, analysts believe that the announcement of the manifesto on Friday was itself marred by controversy. “The absence of the Chairman of the Manifesto Committee at the time of the release of manifesto also indicates the internal crisis in Congress,” a political analyst said.
Even in the manifesto, it is believed that the Punjab Congress was in a dilemma as state President Navjot Singh Sidhu came up with his own 'Punjab Model' document amid a lack of coordination with the Congress Manifesto Committee.
Sidhu had released his Punjab model even before the formation of the Congress Manifesto Committee thereby further alluding to the internal strife the grand old party is facing for quite some time now. The four-page election manifesto released by the Congress has 13-point promises. This means that in the 38 days from January 11 to February 18, the 25-member Manifesto Committee of the Congress contributed only 13 points on an average with every two members contributing one promise to prepare in more than a month! The Manifesto Committee also held a meeting on January 25 to discuss the “seriousness” of the election manifesto.
Promises in Manifestos
The Congress's Punjab manifesto promises free health care to all sections in government hospitals and free education to all needy students in government schools, colleges and universities. According to the document, the scholarship scheme for SC students would continue and at the same time, the benefit of scholarships would be extended to the backward classes and general category. Similarly, Rs 5,000 would be provided to Class V girls, Rs 10,000 to Class VIII girls and Rs 20,000 to Class XII girls and a computer would be provided to the needy girls.
Congress has also promised to provide Rs 1,100 monthly financial assistance to needy women and eight free gas cylinders in a year. In terms of employment, Congress has promised to provide one lakh jobs annually whereas in 2017, Congress had promised jobs at the doorstep. Similarly, it has been proposed to increase the old-age pension to Rs 3,100 per month.
The manifesto also promises to “complete every unfinished house in six months”. Apart from raising the wages to Rs 350 under the MGNREGA scheme, the promise to increase employment from 100 to 150 days has also been included in the manifesto. Navjot Sidhu said that pulses, oilseeds, and maize would be procured from farmers on MSP.
He said that this 13 point agenda of Punjab Congress was based on the vision of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. The manifesto also calls for setting up of an investment fund of Rs 1,000 crore for startups and an interest-free loan of Rs 2 lakh for startups.
Critics argue that the election manifesto issued by the Congress for the Punjab Assembly elections shows the party's “indifference”. As per the critics' observation, this time the four-page election manifesto of the Congress is no match to the 129 pages document of 2017. “There is no mention of the unfulfilled promises made to the people before the 2017 Assembly elections."
Cheap electricity and cheap cable are not mentioned in the manifesto. There is no mention of drugs or anti-corruption policies either”, an analyst said. Critics also pointed out a lack of ground work in framing the election manifesto saying that no meeting was held by the Congress with any section of society to prepare election manifesto. The last manifesto contained a detailed policy description, but this time there is no such thing, they said.
“Many issues, including unemployment allowance, media, agriculture policy, drugs, corruption, door-to-door employment, eradication of VIP culture, administrative and police reform, tourism, environment, real estate sector, destitute animals are missing from Congress' promise list, but were included last time”.
Dilbag Singh Virk, a senior leader of the All India Sikh Student Federation, Ferozepur while reacting to Congress manifesto, said, “When the Congress does not deliver on its promises, what difference does it make whether it issues election manifestos, big or small?”. Gurupdesh Bhullar, a senior journalist, who has been covering political issues in Chandigarh for decades, said that the manifesto issued by the Punjab Congress “showed the lack of coordination within the party”.
“Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu's list of promises remained different, the work of the Election Manifesto Committee was different. It was only as a result of the lack of coordination and engagement of the Congress leaders in the election campaign that the Congress party showed negligence in releasing this basic document,” Bhullar said.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that the document prepared for the welfare of the people without consultation with the people or without considering the sentiments of the people is mere formality.
Punjab Congress President Navjot Singh Sidhu said that the manifesto was “inspired by the ideals of Guru Nanak Dev Ji's 'Weighing 13-13' which would change the lives of the people of Punjab and serve the interests of the state”. He claimed that the 13-point election manifesto mentions the welfare of all sections.
Read: Congress releases manifesto for Punjab polls: Promises financial assistance to women, 1 lakh jobs
