Mumbai: Ahead of the October 21 Maharashtra elections, the opposition alliance headed by the Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has taken the sons of the soil line — which the Shiv Sena has traditionally been known for — promising 80 per cent jobs to local residents in all new industries in Maharashtra.
The alliance released its joint manifesto Monday evening, making issues such as unemployment, agriculture, education and environment their focal points for the elections.
“We will reserve 80 per cent jobs in industries for locals by bringing a legislation and separate policy for the same to ensure that it is implemented. This will help in addressing unemployment,” said Maharashtra Congress president Balasaheb Thorat, releasing the 51-page manifesto.
Maharashtra already has a regulation for all industries that avail of incentives from the state government to employ 80 per cent local residents in non-supervisory roles and 50 per cent in supervisory roles. The decision was taken in 2008 by the Congress-NCP government and implemented through a government resolution.
According to a report in Times of India, as of March 2018, 88 per cent of all jobs in major industries that have taken state concessions already belong to local residents, which refers to employees with a Maharashtra domicile. Among micro, small and medium industries, this figure is at 89 per cent.
Last year, one of the first announcements of the Congress-led Madhya Pradesh government after coming to power was to promise a 70 per cent quota for local residents in industrial jobs.
The opposition manifesto also promises a Rs 5,000 allowance to educated youth struggling with unemployment, and a minimum wage of Rs 21,000 a month to labourers.
Also on the cards are a Marathi language university, a cultural university in Nashik to preserve Marathi literature, folk art, culinary styles and so on, a low-cost ‘Marathi asmita’ tablet loaded with classical Marathi literature and at least one Marathi language library in every gram panchayat jurisdiction in Maharashtra.
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Complete farm loan waiver
Sticking to a tried and tested formula, the Congress-NCP alliance has promised a complete farm loan waiver in Maharashtra.
The two parties while in power at the Centre had implemented such a waiver at the national level in 2008 when NCP president Sharad Pawar was union agriculture minister. The NCP had included this promise in its manifesto for this year’s Lok Sabha election as well and said it was a part of its common minimum programme with the Congress.
The Devendra Fadnavis-led government too implemented a farm loan waiver in June 2017, but the opposition as well as the ruling Shiv Sena bitterly criticised the policy saying it had too many terms and conditions that kept a majority of the farmers out of its ambit.
The opposition manifesto also promises to bring a policy by which farmers, like any other businesspersons, will be able to take loans of up to 70 per cent of their property’s worth.
Other promises for farmers include making movement of vegetables and fruits for sale toll-free, paying farmers the difference between the minimum support price and the actual sale price, if the latter is lower, giving drought-aid to farm labourers as well to cover loss of employment and a separate court to hear grievances of farmers and resolve them urgently, among others.
Environment conservation policy for Mumbai
Amid the debate over cutting of trees at Mumbai’s Aarey Milk Colony to make way for a Metro car depot, the alliance has promised to take a policy decision to stop harming the environment for development. It has promised to protect the city’s salt lands, stop coastal pollution and prevent encroachments on the banks of the Mithi river.
According to the manifesto, the Congress-NCP-led alliance, if it comes to power, promises to complete all incomplete development projects in the city within three years.
Other promises for Mumbai include getting more open spaces in the city’s development plan, having an incubation centre in the city, a special policy for the city’s entertainment sector and a Centre of Excellence for skill development in the sector.
Among other things, the manifesto has also promised to implement a ‘Right to Disconnect’, which officially gives employees the right to not take their employers’ phone calls or respond to emails after working hours. NCP MP Supriya Sule had raised this as a private member’s bill in Parliament.
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Which party has followed their manifesto after election,not only India but in any democratic regime in the world. Just the oldest one Britain over Brexit. So no party should worry about their manifesto, Shapatnama ,Vachannama. What Namo is doing playing with the emotions of public. Is it necessary to delete 370 article from constitution with 35A, it’s just distraction from socioeconomic imbalance to nattional integrity for political mileages.
I honk the alliance is just going through the motions of fighting this election.
… think …