5/22/2019 Manifesto versus manifesto: What BJP and Congress say on major issues - The Economic Times

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Manifesto versus manifesto: What BJP and Congress say

on major issues
BY ET ONLINE | APR 10, 2019, 08.28 PM IST Post a Comment

NEW DELHI: Lok Sabha election manifestos by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the
Congress have made news for their different approaches to several issues. While on
many issues they have made similar promises such as 33% reservation for women in
Parliament and state assemblies, there are sharp differences on others such as handling
of the situation J&K. Below are some of the prominent promises made by each party on
major issues.

1.EMPLOYMENT
What Congress promises
Creation of a new Ministry of Industry, Services and Employment to underline the link
between the growth of the industry and services sectors and rapid creation of jobs.
Public welfare forms the central theme in both the
vision documents.
All of the 4 lakh vacancies as on 1 April 2019 in the Central government, Central public
sector enterprises, judiciary and Parliament will be filled before the end of March 2020. As
Big Change:
a condition for devolution of funds to the healthcare and education sectors and to The end of Five-Year Plans: All you need to know
panchayats and municipalities, the Congress government will request state governments
to fill all vacancies, estimated at 20 lakh.

The Congress government will work with state governments to create new Seva Mitra positions (estimated at 10 lakh) in every gram
panchayat and every urban local body to ensure effective delivery of government services to citizens.

Application fees for government examinations and government posts will be abolished.
The ASHA programme (Accredited Social Health Activist) to be expanded and second ASHA worker to be appointed in every village
with a population exceeding 2,500 persons.

Regulatory forbearance for micro and small enterprises. They will be exempt from all applicable laws and regulations (except the
Minimum Wages Act and tax laws) for three years from 1 April 2019 or, in the case of new businesses, the date of commencement of
business.

Two major programmes to be implemented through gram sabhas and urban local bodies that will create one crore jobs — repair and
restoration of water bodies (Water Bodies Restoration Mission); and regeneration and afforestation of wasteland and degraded land
(Wasteland Regeneration Mission).

What BJP promises

The BJP will create new opportunities of employment by providing more support to the 22 major 'Champion Sectors' identified as the
main drivers of Indian economy. It will optimally leverage the untapped employment-generation potential of sectors such as defence and
pharmaceuticals to take advantage of the opportunities available in domestic and foreign markets.
50,000 ‘Van Dhan Vikas Kendras’ in the tribal areas of the country to ensure availability of primary processing and value addition for
forest produce and to provide employment for tribals and increase tribal income.

A, 'Entrepreneurial Northeast' scheme to provide financial support to the micro, small and medium industries and for employment
generation in the Northeastern state.
A new scheme to provide collateral-free credit up to Rs 50 lakh for entrepreneurs. The government will guarantee 50% of the loan
amount for female entrepreneurs and 25% of the loan amount for male entrepreneurs.

Expansion of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana to take the number of beneficiaries of Mudra loans up to 30 crore from the present 17
crore.

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5/22/2019 Manifesto versus manifesto: What BJP and Congress say on major issues - The Economic Times

Creation of a ‘Seed Startup Fund’ of Rs 20,000 crore.

2.SECURITY
What Congress promises
The Congress had put in place the Multi-Agency Centre and the NSG regional hubs. It had also proposed to establish the National
Counter-Terrorism Centre and NATGRID. The BJP government dismantled the preparatory work, National Counter Terrorism Centre
(NCTC) was put in the cold storage and NATGRID has yet to be made operational. The Congress promises to set up NCTC within three
months and make NATGRID operational by December 2019.

Establishing the office of Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) which will be the principal adviser to the government on matters relating to
defence.

Statutory basis to the National Security Council (NSC) and the office of National Security Adviser (NSA). Their powers and functions will
be defined under the law and both authorities, and the agencies under them, will be accountable to Parliament.

The Congress will re-establish the National Security Advisory Board (NSAB), provide a statutory basis to the body, appoint experts from
different disciplines and ensure that it will function as a permanent, professional advisory body advising the NSC and the government

What BJP promises

Speeding up the purchases of outstanding defense-related equipment and weapons.
There has been a huge change in the cultural and linguistic identity of some areas due to illegal immigration, resulting in an adverse
impact on local people's livelihood and employment. The BJP will expeditiously complete the National Register of Citizens (NRC)
process in these areas on priority.

In future it will implement the NRC in a phased manner in other parts of the country
A pilot project on the use of technology to strengthen border security (Smart Fencing) to to prevent illegal immigration in the
Northeastern states was implemented in Dhubri (Assam). It will be implemented on all borders.

Annulling of Article 35A of the Constitution of India as the provision is discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women of
Jammu and Kashmir as well as abrogation of Article 370 which gives J&K a special status.

Ensuring safe return of Kashmiri Pandits to the Valley and providing financial assistance for the resettlement of refugees from West
Pakistan, Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb.

3.AGRICULTURE

What Congress promises

A separate Kisan Budget to ensure priority to the issues affecting the agriculture sector.
A permanent National Commission on Agricultural Development and Planning consisting of farmers, agricultural scientists and
agricultural economists to examine and advise the government on how to make agriculture viable, competitive and remunerative. The
recommendations of the Commission will be ordinarily binding on the government. The Commission will subsume the existing
Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices and recommend appropriate minimum support prices.

A Commission on Marginal Farmers and Agricultural Labour to advise on policies and programmes that will help them earn income from
higher wages and from non-crop based agriculture such as horticulture and floriculture, dairying and poultry.

Re-design the BJP government’s Fasal Bima Yojana which the Congress says has enriched only the insurance companies at the cost of
the farmers. Insurance companies will be made to offer crop insurance on the principle of ‘no profit, no loss.’

Promotion of Farmer Producer Companies/Organisations to enable farmers access inputs, technology and markets

Repealing the Agricultural Produce Market Committees Act and making trade in agricultural produce, including exports and inter-state
trade, free from all restrictions.

A policy to enable construction of modern warehouses, cold storage and food processing facilities in every block of the country
Replacing the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, by an enabling law that can be invoked only in the case of emergencies.

Redesigning MGNREGA to provide for increasing the guaranteed days of employment up to 150 days in cases where 100 days have
been achieved in a block/district; use of labour in the Waterbodies Restoration and the Wasteland Regeneration Missions; and building

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village-level assets such as primary health centres, classrooms and libraries.

What BJP promises

Expansion of Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, which extends to financial support to farmers owning land up to two
hectares, to all the farmers in the country.

A pension scheme for all small and marginal farmers to ensure social security to them on reaching 60 years of age.

25 lakh crore investment in agri-rural sector to improve productivity of the farm sector.
Interest-free Kisan Credit Card loans up to Rs. 1 lakh at a 0% interest rate for 1-5 years on the condition of prompt repayment of the
principal amount.

An Oilseeds Mission to achieve self-sufficiency in oil seeds and other agri products.

A warehouse network across the country. A National Warehousing Grid along national highways to ensure necessary logistical linkages
for warehousing of agricultural produce.

A Village Storage Scheme for agri-produce to enable farmers to store agri-produce near their villages and sell at a remunerative price at
an appropriate time.

Loans to farmers at cheaper rates on the basis of storage receipt of the agri-produce.

Chemical-free organic farming in an additional 20 lakh hectare of hilly, tribal and rainfed areas in the next five years. A dedicated e-
commerce portal to enhance the availability of organic produce to the doorsteps of consumers.

Bringing one crore hectares of agricultural land under micro-irrigation which would be supplemented with ‘fertigation’ to promote
judicious use of fertilizers.

4.INFRASTRUCTURE

What Congress promises

Review, re-formulation and implementation of policy on spectrum and exploration and extraction of natural resources. The policy will
address issues of allocation, capital investment, enhanced production, transparency, efficiency, risk-reward concerns, environmental
sustainability, inter-generational equity, accountability, competition and appropriate sectoral regulation.

A new model of governance for towns and cities through a directly elected mayor with a fixed term of five years, an elected council and a
separate administrative structure for each urban body. The administration will be accountable to the mayor and the council and there will
be a provision to recruit technical experts and build capacity as well as multi-disciplinary teams to do urban planning and implement
municipal works.

A Slum Upgradation and Transformation Scheme to ensure basic services such as drinking water, electricity and sanitation to slum
dwellers. Slums will be transformed by replacing huts and kuchha dwellings with proper houses, roads and other public facilities.

What BJP promises

Capital investment of Rs.100 lakh crore in the infrastructure sector by 2024.

50 cities to be covered with a strong metro network in the next five years.

A new Ministry of Water unifying the water management functions. It will take forward the ambitious river-linkage programme
conceptualized by Atal Bihari Vajpayee. An authority will be constituted to initiate work on this programme.

‘Jal Jivan Mission’ with a special programme ‘Nal se Jal’ to ensure piped water for every household by 2024.

Construction of 60,000 km of national highways in the next five years. Doubling the length of national highways by 2022.

Bharatmala 2.0 project to support the states to develop state road networks connecting the interior regions to the main roads.

Conversion of all viable rail tracks to broad gauge by 2022.

Electrification of all railway tracks by 2022.

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Introducing high-speed trains and new trains such as Vande Bharat Express across the length and breadth of the country in the next five
years.

Doubling the number of functional airports in the next five years,

Doubling of the country's port capacity in the next five years.

Connecting every gram panchayat with high-speed optical fibre network by 2022. Providing a range of services such as telemedicine,
tele-education and agriculture-related advisories through village-level high-speed broadband services.

5.HEALTH
What Congress promises
Total government expenditure on healthcare to be doubled to 3 per cent of GDP by 2023-24.
Right to Healthcare Act that will guarantee to every citizen the right to healthcare services, including free diagnostics, out-patient care,
medicines and hospitalisation through a network of public hospitals and enlisted private hospitals.

To vigorously promote and implement the free public hospitals-model to provide universal healthcare.
Trauma and Emergency Centres on all national and state highways to cater to the travelling public as well as the population in the
surrounding area.

Implementation of the Clinical Establishments Act, 2010, to bring accountability to the functioning of private and public clinical
establishments.

Increasing the number of doctors, including specialist doctors, significantly by establishing more medical colleges, increasing the
capacity of medical colleges and providing scholarships and loans to medical students

What BJP promises

An essential devices list and a separate pricing policy for medical devices to ensure their accessibility and affordability to masses.

One medical college or postgraduate medical college in every district, through public or private participation, by 2024. 75 such medical
Institutes to be set up by 2022.

Doubling the number of MBBS and specialist doctors in the country by 2024 as compared to the work done from 1947 till 2014.

Full immunization coverage for all the children and pregnant women by 2022.

6.Jammu & Kashmir

What Congress promises

Reviewing the deployment of armed forces, moving more troops to the border to stop infiltration completely, reducing the presence of
the Army and CAPFs in the Valley, and entrusting more responsibility to the J&K police for maintaining law and order.

Reviewing of the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act and the Disturbed Areas Act. Suitable changes to be made in the text of the laws
to balance the requirements of security and the protection of human rights.
Talks on the Kashmir issue without pre-conditions and appointment of three interlocutors drawn from civil society to facilitate these talks.

What BJP promises

Abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India which provides J&K a special status.
Annulling Article 35A which is discriminatory against non-permanent residents and women of J&K.
Ensuring safe return of Kashmiri Pandits and providing financial assistance for the resettlement of refugees from West Pakistan,
Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK) and Chhamb

7.Women

What Congress promises

Passing the Constitution (Amendment) Bill to provide for reservation of 33 per cent of seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative
Assemblies in the first session of the 17th Lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha.
Amending the Service Rules to reserve for women 33 per cent of appointments to posts in the Central government.

Review of all laws that stipulate wage rates to provide that men and women are paid the same wage for similar work.

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A model legislation to establish a separate investigative agency to investigate heinous crimes against women and children.

Launch of National Rural Livelihoods Mission - 2 to make self-help groups a key instrument for the economic empowerment of women,
to increase livelihood opportunities and to usher in transformative social change.

What BJP promises

A constitutional amendment.for 33% reservation in parliament and state assemblies for women.
A comprehensive ‘Women in Workforce’ roadmap focussed on dramatically increasing the female workforce participation rate over the
next five years.

To generate better work opportunities for women, 10% material to be sourced for government procurement will be done from MSMEs
having at least 50% women employees in their workforce.
A bill to prohibit and eliminate practices such as Triple Talaq and Nikah Halala.
As expansion of ongoing Suvidha scheme, sanitary pads to be provided to all women and girls.at an affordable cost of Re 1.

Increasing the coverage of Ayushman Bharat to include all Anganwadi and ASHA workers.

8.Governance

What Congress promises

Amending the Anti-Defection Law to provide for instant disqualification of a Member of Parliament or a Member of the State Legislature
for proven disobedience to the party’s whip or for withdrawing allegiance to the party or for supporting another party.
Introduction of requirement of public consultation before a Bill is introduced in Parliament
A Social Accountability Act for social audit of all government schemes and programmes.
Amending the Aadhaar Act, 2016 in order to restrict the use of Aadhaar to subsidies, benefits and services provided by the government
as was originally intended under the law.

The Congress also promises that, having regard to the inherent limitations of biometric identification, alternate instruments of
identification will be allowed under the law
A Diversity Index as a metric to assess and ensure diversity in all government bodies, semi-government agencies, public sector
enterprises and other public bodies.

An Anti-Discrimination Law to prohibit discrimination on the basis of religion, caste, gender or language in the supply of goods and
services that are made available to the public in general such as housing, hostels, hotels, clubs, etc.

Passing of the Grievance Redressal Bill, 2011 to provide for mandatory, time-bound grievance redressal.
Special Category status to Andhra Pradesh and full statehood to Puducherry.

Amending the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991 to make it clear that the Lieutenant Governor shall act on the
aid and advice of the Council of Ministers.
Constitutional amendment to make the Supreme Court a Constitutional Court that will hear and decide cases involving the interpretation
of the Constitution and other cases of legal significance or national importance.

A Bill to amend the Constitution to establish a Court of Appeal between the High Courts and the Supreme Court.
A National Judicial Commission that will be responsible for selection of judges for appointment to the High Courts and the Supreme
Court.

An independent Judicial Complaints Commission to investigate complaints of misconduct against judges and recommend suitable action
to Parliament.

What BJP promises

Simultaneous elections for Parliament, state assemblies and local bodies to reduce expenditure, ensure efficient utilisation of
government resources and security forces and for effective policy planning.
A common voter list for all elections.

Merging similar and complementary departments into sectoral ministries.

Enactment of legislation for creating an International Financial Services Centre Authority which will put in place a robust regulatory
framework to establish India as a hub of financial services.

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A committee for Easing Citizens’ Interactions with Government to work with experts in reforming citizen’s interface with government
across domains such as taxes, business compliance, rules and regulations for greater simplicity and ease.

Implementation of the Right to Service to ensure time-bound delivery of public services.

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