Jaipur, Aug 19 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday launched a ‘Panchayat Election Task Force’ in Rajasthan to identify young people willing to contest the upcoming local body and Panchayati Raj elections and connect them with the party organisation.
The initiative was launched at the Congress war room here by party state president Govind Singh Dotasra, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully and Youth Congress national general secretary Shesh Narayan Ojha.
Under the initiative, Youth Congress teams will travel across Rajasthan to identify potential young candidates at the district, block and panchayat levels and forward their details to the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC).
Ojha said the initiative, being launched first in Rajasthan, would particularly focus on people below 39 years of age who are currently not part of the Congress organisation but believe in the Constitution and want to enter electoral politics.
He said national coordinators of the Youth Congress would visit districts to identify such aspirants and help train and prepare them for elections.
Dotasra clarified that the task force would not select candidates or decide tickets.
“The task force will identify young aspirants, connect them with the organisation and encourage them to contest. The final decision on tickets will be taken through the party’s established process,” he said.
He said ground-level support, involvement in the organisation and winnability would be among the factors considered while selecting candidates.
Dotasra said the party would seek to give more than 50 per cent representation to young candidates in the upcoming local elections, while also providing opportunities to women and candidates from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.
However, he said preference for young candidates would not be applied as a blanket formula and experienced candidates would also be considered wherever required.
Dotasra also announced that its leaders and workers would visit government schools across the state despite a recent government order restricting entry and photography on school premises without permission. Questioning the restrictions, he said Congress representatives will highlight the condition of buildings, classrooms and basic facilities.
He claimed the government itself had identified around 85,000 classrooms requiring repairs, but adequate funds had not been released.
Jully said the Congress would raise issues related to education, declining enrolment and dilapidated school buildings during the Assembly session beginning Thursday. PTI SDA PRK
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