Congress launches manifesto to boost employment in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh

|HT|

After announcing 40% reservation in tickets for women, the Congress on Friday unveiled a strategy to boost employment in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh as it launched its manifesto for the youths. The manifesto is seen as part of efforts to woo young voters and to counter the caste and religious factors in the state, where the party has been out of power for over three decades. At the launch, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, made it clear she is the party’s face in the state. “Can you see any other face?” she said when asked who is leading the Congress in the assembly elections. She said the party was open to supporting any party other than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to form the next state government. “If any such situation arises, we would be open to joining it but our manifesto has to be at the centre of such a coalition.”

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who was present at the launch, criticised the Union government and said India requires a new vision. “If you want to propose a new vision, you need to start in Uttar Pradesh. It is a step towards giving a vision to the country.” He hit out at the parties, which have been in power in Uttar Pradesh, and added the youngsters have understood that in the last 25 years, they did not get anything. Congress’s employment boosting strategy focuses on 1.2 million vacant government jobs as well as another 800,000 in the private sector and promotion of local skills.

Priyanka Gandhi called the manifesto a strategy and not empty words. “The question is how to give you employment. In Uttar Pradesh, every 24 days, 880 people lose jobs. In the last five years, 1.6 million youth lost jobs. Youth needs a new vision and Congress is the only party that can give this vision.” She added they will remove problems to generate employment. “We will curb the scams in public job exams.” She added 150,000 posts are vacant in primary schools and 8,000 in higher education alone.

Priyanka Gandhi said the Yogi Adityanath government’s “one district, one product” plan would be revised and that Congress would promote a cluster approach to support local industries if voted to power. She added fees for job exams would be waived and a single-window scholarship portal would be launched.

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