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Jubilee News Desk
Taking a step forward for the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh Congress released a manifesto for women, that promised 40% of the 20 lakh new jobs, party aims to create in the state, will be for women candidates.
While releasing the six-point manifesto titled ‘Shakti Vidhan’, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said if Congress forms government in Uttar Pradesh, 50% of ration shops in the state will be managed and run by women.
The points covered in the manifesto are ‘swabhiman’ (self-respect), ‘swawlamban’ (self-sufficiency), ‘shiksha’ (education), ‘samman’ (respect), ‘suraksha’ (security) and ‘sehat’ (health).
The Congress leader has been aggressive in Uttar Pradesh for past few months in an attempt to revive the grand old party. She has been holding meetings, meeting party workers and electorates in different districts.
Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress general secretary said that there will also be a government department to ensure humane working conditions of domestic workers, she promised while releasing the ‘Shakti Vidhan’ manifesto at the Congress office in Lucknow.
Apart from that, the women’s manifesto also promised that women will be given free travel in state transport buses and they would also receive three LPG cylinders per year.
Gandhi pointed out that 40% of tickets for women is just the beginning and the manifesto lists many benefits that aim at uplifting women’s self-esteem and self-reliance. To demonstrate that the Congress party had always been a champion of women’s causes, Gandhi said that it was the Congress party that gave India its first female Prime Minister, decades ago, while America has only recently elected a female vice President.
She explained that the women’s manifesto is divided into six parts. The first part focuses on increasing women’s self-esteem by giving them an equal footing in politics as men. The women’s manifesto states that Congress aims to gradually increase female participation in politics by fifty per cent. The second part of the manifesto aims to raise women’s self-reliance by declaring that under the provision of the reservation, 40% of seats will be given to women.
Apart from that, women will also be entitled to subsidised loans, empowered by the party to increase their participation in the rural workforce, and women will also get preference under MGNREGA.
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She said that businesses increasing their female employee numbers to 50% shall be assisted through adequate incentives, including tax exemptions.
Uttar Pradesh in-charge Priyanka Gandhi had in November announced that if Congress is voted to power in the state, then she will ensure Rs 10,000 honorarium for ASHA and Anganwadi workers.
