New Delhi: The economic section of the Bharatiya Janata party’s 2024 poll manifesto, released Sunday, guaranteed that India would become the third-largest economy in the world, and focused on particular segments of the population, such as the poor, middle class, women, youth, farmers, and labourers.
“The nation’s growth has come from the drastic socio-economic transformation seen in the lives of women, farmers, fisherfolks, street vendors, small entrepreneurs, SC, ST, and OBC communities,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in his “letter to the nation” included at the beginning of the BJP’s manifesto.
“The nation’s growth has been fueled by the achievements of our youth who have not only dared to dream big but also worked to realise dreams in various domains such as space, sports, and start-ups,” he added.
The BJP manifesto contained separate sections to list the ruling party’s promises for each segment.
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Support for poor and middle class
“We are committed to supporting every garib parivar (poor family) in coming out of poverty and leading a dignified life,” the manifesto said. “We have undertaken various measures for garib kalyan (welfare of the poor) in the last ten years with good results. We will continue to focus on empowering our garib parivar jan (the poor) to improve their quality of life, increase income, and live with dignity.”
Some of these steps — such as extending the free foodgrain scheme for another five years, and providing ‘free electricity’ under the ‘PM Surya Ghar: Muft Bijli Yojana’ — have already been announced by the Modi government.
Other steps include attempts to keep food prices down by becoming self-sufficient in the production of pulses, edible oils, and vegetables, expansion of the subsidised housing scheme Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana to include “every garib parivar”, further expanding coverage of tap water connectivity and clean fuel availability, and scaling up the slum redevelopment programme.
For the middle class, the BJP manifesto promises to make it easier for citizens to buy a house by strengthening the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, and working with state governments to reduce the cost of construction and registration of properties and ease the process of approvals for housing designs.
The manifesto also focused on creating “high-value jobs” by expanding India’s startup ecosystem to tier-2 and tier-3 cities.
The Ayushman Bharat free healthcare scheme will be expanded to include senior citizens, the manifesto promised.
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What’s in it for women & youth
One of the most significant promises made for women, especially rural women, is the expansion of the Lakhpati Didi programme to cover three crore women from the current one crore. The scheme, implemented by the Ministry of Rural Development, aims to strengthen the Self-Help Group (SHG) network to create an increasing number of women earning an income of over Rs 1 lakh a year.
“We will empower women SHGs with the skills and tools in key service sectors like IT, healthcare, education, retail, and tourism with an aim to increase their income,” the manifesto said. “We will integrate women SHGs with ongoing initiatives such as One District One Product (ODOP), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Ekta Mall, ONDC, GEM, (and) One Station One Product, enhancing better market access for their products.”
The manifesto also promised to facilitate the participation of women in the workforce and sports.
For India’s youth, the manifesto “guarantees high-quality education, world-class sports facilities, employment, and entrepreneurial opportunities to all young citizens through the NEP and other programmes”.
NEP refers to the National Education Policy 2020, the Modi government’s ambitious overhaul of the country’s education system.
A significant portion of the BJP’s promises for the youth has to do with the country’s startup ecosystem, which the party has said it would strengthen.
“We have successfully established Bharat among the top 3 Startup Ecosystems through various interventions ranging from Atal Tinkering Labs, Hackathon, Startup India, and Startup India Seed Fund Scheme,” the manifesto said. “We will build upon this success and expand this ecosystem by making Bharat a preferred destination for startups, supported by robust investment, mentorship, and a culture that celebrates entrepreneurial risk-taking.”
The BJP said it would also work with the private sector to expand the incubator network and link them with higher education institutes, expand the existing Startup India Seed Fund Scheme and Startup Credit Guarantee Scheme, and continue establishing tie-ups with globally recognised startup mentors.
“We have taken initiatives in many departments including defence and railways to support procurement from startups,” the document said. “We will prepare a strong framework to further encourage startups in government procurement.”
The manifesto added that the BJP would take several steps to increase employment opportunities in manufacturing, infrastructure, and tourism.
Continued focus on farmers and labourers
“The dignity and empowerment of farmers is one of our top-most priorities,” the manifesto said, promising to continue the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana transfers of Rs 6,000 a year to every farmer.
“We will further strengthen the PM Fasal Bima Yojana through more technological interventions to ensure speedy and more accurate assessment, faster payouts, and quicker grievance resolution,” it said, adding that the BJP would continue to increase the minimum support price for crops “from time to time”.
The manifesto promised to launch a Krishi Infrastructure Mission to integrate the planning and implementation of agricultural infrastructure projects such as storage facilities, irrigation, grading and sorting units, cold storage facilities, and food processing.
“We will launch an indigenous Bharat Krishi satellite for farm-related activities like crop forecasting, pesticide application, irrigation, soil health, and weather forecasting, among others,” it said.
The BJP has promised to double the number of custom hiring centres — facilities with farm machinery and implements that can be hired by farmers instead of them having to own them — from the current 25,000.
The party also promised to encourage farmers to use “high-yielding, climate resilient and bio-fortified varieties of seeds” and to further encourage the adoption of nano urea.
For labourers, or shramiks, as the manifesto calls them, the BJP promised to review the national floor wages or minimum wages “from time to time”.
“We will work with platforms for registration of gig workers on e-Shram and reach out to such shramik bandhus to help them avail the benefits of various programmes that they are eligible for,” the manifesto said. “We will reach out to migrant workers and empower them to avail benefits of various programmes that they are eligible for.”
E-SHRAM is a Government of India portal to develop a national database of unorganised workers.
In its document, the BJP said it would introduce a new scheme for truck drivers under which modern facilities will be developed along the national highways, and that it would onboard auto, taxi, truck, and other drivers on the e-Shram portal and ensure 100 percent coverage of all drivers under insurance and other welfare programmes.