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Hamstrung by a slowing economy and facing a barrage of corruption charges, the Congress has tried to put together a manifesto with a wider appeal, especially with the middle-class and India Inc.
Vice-President Rahul Gandhi’s influence is evident in the manifesto, released here on Wednesday after months of deliberations with various stakeholders. Expectedly, the document harps on the thrust it gave to the party’s rights-based welfare schemes and makes some radical and contradictory promises.
Put on the defensive by the Opposition charge that the UPA Government had provided jobless growth, the manifesto promises to create 10 crore new jobs within a decade and ensure entrepreneurship opportunities for youth. The document promises to come out with a detailed agenda within 100 days of assuming office. But, then, it says the party is committed to creating a national consensus on affirmative action for SCs and STs in the private sector.
The manifesto promises to focus on the manufacturing sector. “We propose that all taxes, Central and State, which go into exported products should be waived or ‘rebated’,” it said.
To maintain India Inc’s competitiveness, the manifesto offers a more flexible labour policy but says it will move towards international labour standards for workers. It also says: “We will promote greater integration with the global economy and encourage FDI, especially in labour-intensive sectors.”
Promising radical changes to tax laws, the document says that within 100 days of coming to power, it will clear the Goods and Services Tax Bill and the Direct Tax Code Bill. The current UPA Government could not take these two pieces of legislation forward.
Wiser from the Vodafone issue, the party says it will ensure there is no unpredictability on retrospective taxation.
On government finances, the manifesto says the Fiscal Responsibility and Budget Management Act will be amended to codify a commitment to achieving a fiscal deficit of 3 per cent of GDP by 2016-17 and staying below that level thereafter. It says an independent National Fiscal Responsibility Council will be set up, and submit an annual report to Parliament on fiscal commitments.
The Congress pledges to set up a National Investment Facilitation Authority chaired by the Prime Minister to identify delayed projects and resolve inter-ministerial issues to ensure rapid and transparent approvals to large projects, especially in the infrastructure sector.
The party proposes to invest more than $1 trillion in the next decade to upgrade power, transport and other infrastructure. The manifesto seeks to open the higher education system to investments from India and abroad.
Elsewhere, the party has offered a slew of rights — to health, pension, housing, social security, and dignity. The party promises a bank account for every citizen in the next five years. While industry organisations welcomed the manifesto, Opposition parties ridiculed it. “This is not a manifesto, but a document of deceit,” said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. CPI(M) Polit Bureau member AK Padmanabhan said party workers would ensure the Congress’s defeat in the next elections as most of the recommendations were against the interests of workers.
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