Taking a leaf out of the late Jayalalithaa’s book, who distributed free laptops in Tamil Nadu, the Congress promised to give a smart phone each to all college-going students between 18 and 23 years of age, if voted back to power.
The party also said that sports and yoga will be introduced as a compulsory subject in school curriculum to inculcate sports culture in students.
This was announced in the election manifesto released by the Congress President Rahul Gandhi for the Karnataka Assembly elections, in the coastal city of Mangalore on April 27. Launching the manifesto, Gandhi said that it wasn’t written by a few people in a room, but was devised after going to every district, block, community and region of the state.
“This is the philosophical difference. The prime minister wants to tell the people of the country his ‘Mann ki Baat’, but this manifesto is the mann ki baat of the people of Karnataka”, he said. Karnataka will go to polls on May 12.
He added that unlike the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto will be dictated by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Highlights of the manifesto
- Create one crore jobs will in five years.
- Constitute a statutory Farmers Income Commission to ensure basic livelihood for farmers, agri-labourers and agricultural households
- Government will be the guarantor and provide free education in government schools until Grade 12 to every child.
- Subsidy for sanitary napkin vending machines, which will be installed in all colleges, polytechnics, ITIs, school and public toilets. Taxes on sanitary pads will be abolished. Distribution of free sanitary pads through PDS to women below poverty line .
- Improve traffic by setting up technology-enabled, auto-synchronised traffic management system with connected signals across the city
- The Congress manifesto promises that any sports person from the state winning a medal in Olympics will be given a cash award of 1 crore. Any sports person from the state winning in any other international sports events will be given prize money.
- Introduce cultural orientation programmes for skill development at Hampi Heritage Centre. Two months’ crash course for all students who pass out of degree colleges in order to educate them on the culture and heritage of Karnataka.
Other promises
- Increase the number of women in police force from 20 per cent to 33 per cent with at least 5 per cent reservation to transgender
- Develop an International School of Architecture at Badami to take advantage of the ancient architecture of Paadakal, Ihole and Bijapur.
- A ‘Communal Violence Prevention, Control and Rehabilitation of Victims Act’ will be legislated on the lines of the bill brought by the Congress-led UPA government at the centre.
- Restore the powers of the Lokayukta to take suo motu cases and ensure zero tolerance to corruption.
- Expand the Anna Bhagya scheme for migrant labourers.
- Build a high-tech IT talent pool to cater to over 3 million IT jobs in the state through skill upgradation and IT-driven curriculum. An IT park will be created at Devanahalli.
- Startup subsidy of about Rs 1 crore, so that a company can kick start production. The subsidy will have a grant component of up to Rs 25 lakh and a loan of about Rs 75 lakh.
- Fifth phase of Cauvery project will be expedited to augment drinking water supply of Bengaluru city, Bengaluru rural, Ramanagaram and other areas falling under the river’s basin planning and implementing projects. This can harness nearly 75 TMC water.
- Will launch an initiative for developing sustainable agri-business enabled through an ‘Agricultural Corridor for Karnataka’ for agriculture and its allied sectors covering production, infrastructure and industrial segments on an end-to-end concept