New Delhi: The Congress is discussing the option of offering student loan waivers in its manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, an idea that has stemmed from its plan to woo the youth, especially first-time voters.
The suggestion to offer student loan waivers as a poll promise came up during consultations for the party’s manifesto. One of the leaders involved in the manifesto-drafting exercise told ThePrint that the proposal was driven by concerns among students and the youth about higher education becoming too expensive, especially for the middle class.
According to the Congress leader, the nitty-gritty of the proposed loan waiver is still being etched out, including who the beneficiaries would be and how much it would cost.
“We have received this suggestion from several quarters and it is being actively examined,” said the Congress leader. “The final decision on this would be taken by the Congress Working Committee.”
According to government data, Indian banks had given out education loans to the tune of Rs 69,100 crore as of 21 December 2018.
Last year, the Congress-Janata Dal (Secular) coalition government in Karnataka had proposed a student loan waiver too.
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Wooing the young
The Congress is eyeing the young as a key vote bank in the Lok Sabha election, with an internal party report pegging the number of first-time voters in 2019 at 15 crore.
The rise in education expenses has been among the issues the Congress has sought to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over. This is apart from the Congress’ onslaught over what it describes as the Narendra Modi government’s failure to create jobs, another issue the party is tapping for youth outreach.
NoMo Jobs!
The Fuhrer promised us 2 Cr jobs a year. 5 years later, his leaked job creation report card reveals a National Disaster.
Unemployment is at its highest in 45 yrs.
6.5 Cr youth are jobless in 2017-18 alone.
Time for NoMo2Go. #HowsTheJobs pic.twitter.com/nbX4iYmsiZ
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) January 31, 2019
In high gear
The Congress has sought public participation in the process of drafting the 2019 Lok Sabha election manifesto, asking people to post suggestions on a dedicated interactive website, besides sending them through email and WhatsApp.
Reports of the Congress considering student loan waivers come weeks after party president Rahul Gandhi promised to introduce a minimum income guarantee scheme if the party was voted to power.
Talking about the Congress manifesto, a party functionary said the drafting committee had zeroed in on jobs and farm distress as its focus areas. A source in the Congress hinted that the party might also promise a farm loan waiver in the manifesto.
The party has formed 20 sub-groups as part of the manifesto consultation process, to dwell on different subjects such as economic policy, national security and foreign policy, farmers and agriculture.
In its 2014 manifesto, entering the election season after two consecutive terms at the helm, the Congress had promised to create 100 million jobs and introduce the Goods and Services Tax (GST) within 100 days of coming to power.
It had also promised the passage of the women’s reservation bill for Parliament, and setting up of a national environment appraisal and monitoring body.
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