If elected, Cong. will wave off loans of Chhattisgarh farmers: Rahul

TIL Desk/National/Rajnandgaon/ Congress chief Rahul Gandhi has released the party’s manifesto for Chhattisgarh which promises farm loan waiver, minimum support price for crops as per the Swaminathan Commission recommendations and ban on liquor sales. The state will go to polls in two phases on November 12 and November 20 and counting of votes will take place on December 11. Mr Gandhi released the manifesto, titled “Jan Ghoshna Patra” in Rajnandgaon, which is the constituency of Chief Minister Raman Singh.

Addressing a press conference on the occasion, Mr Gandhi said that farmers’ loans would be waived within 10 days of the party attaining power. The MSP for paddy will be fixed at Rs. 2,500 per quintal and maize at Rs. 1,700 per quintal, Mr Gandhi said. Besides, a provision of pension for farmers aged above 60 years has also been planned, the Congress chief said.

The manifesto also promised halving electricity bills for domestic consumers, provisioning of houses and land to urban and rural families respectively. Every family will be given 35 kg of rice every month at Re 1 only, he said. Tackling employment under the party’s “Ghar Ghar Rozgaar, Har Ghar Rozgaar” scheme, the manifesto underlines apprenticeship programmes and employment opportunities for the youth. It also promised a monthly stipend to 10 lakh unemployed youths under the party’s ‘Rajiv Mitr Yojana”.