Comments
Both YSR Congress and ruling Telugu Desam Party, which released their manifestos on Saturday (Ugaadi, the Telugu New Year Day), have made a commitment to secure the promised special category status for Andhra Pradesh and to complete the mega Polavaram project on river Godavari.
Both parties have also promised to increase the pension for senior citizens (above 60 years) from the present ₹2,000 to ₹3,000 per month.
Prohibition
YSR Congress has promised to enforce liquor prohibition in the State in phases, “ultimately restricting the supply of liquor only to five-star hotels”. In 2014, TDP promised to control belt (unauthorised outlets) shops in the State. But the YSR Congress alleged that the ruling party did not honour the promise and that there is free flow of liquor in the State.
Cash assistance
TDP has already introduced the Annadaata Sukhibhava scheme to provide cash assistance of ₹15,000 per annum to families of farmers, which includes ₹6,000 provided by the Centre. The Central scheme is restricted to farmers having less than 2.5 hectares, whereas the TDP scheme is for all farmers. The scheme will also be extended to tenant farmers subsequently, promised TDP.
YSR Congress has promised ₹12,500 per annum to the families of farmers in May itself
TDP has promised to set up a price stabilisation fund for farmers worth ₹5,000 crore; YSR Congress is planning a fund worth ₹3,000 crore.
To appease the youth, TDP has introduced the Yuva Nestham scheme to provide an unemployment allowance of ₹2,000 per month to educated jobless youth, and aims to hike it to ₹3,000.
Both parties have promised fee reimbursement for students. TDP has promised to provide laptops to students who have passed intermediate exam, while YSR Congress plans to introduce English in all government schools and make Telugu a compulsory subject.
YSR Congress promises to strengthen the YSR Arogyasri medical insurance scheme and to upgrade the government hospitals in the State. The party alleges that the TDP government has diluted the scheme introduced by the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy in the undivided State. Both parties have also attempted to woo the Kapus, an important caste in the State, and BCs, with several schemes in their manifestos. TDP has promised to set up a separate bank for BCs with ₹10,000 crore. The party recently introduced pasupu-kumkuma (turmeric and vermilion) scheme for members of the self-help groups of women in the State, offering ca ash assistance of ₹10,000 per annum to each group.
It is estimated that there are one crore members in self-help groups of women, and the TDP is relying heavily on the vote bank. The party is also offering free cell phones to women members of SHGs. TDP has promised to develop Amaravati, the new Capital, as a world-class city, claiming that plans have been drawn up for projects worth ₹50,000 crore and that resources would be raised for the purpose. YSR Congress manifesto is silent on the development of Amaravati, which has led to criticism from TDP leaders.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.