₹1L annually to poor women, 50% quota in govt jobs: Rahul Gandhi promises 5 guarantees
Thursday was the second day of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ that covered Dhule, Malegaon and reached Nashik by late evening.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi unveiled five ‘Mahila Nyay’ guarantees to empower women by pledging support such as ₹1 lakh annually deposited into the bank accounts of women from poor financial backgrounds and ensuring 50% reservation in government jobs if his party attains power. The announcements were made in the backdrop of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections scheduled to be declared anytime soon.
“If Modiji can give ₹16 lakh crore to billionaires, we can give ₹1 lakh to crores of women under ‘Mahalaxmi Guarantee’ scheme,” he said while addressing a women’s convention in Dhule on Wednesday afternoon.
Gandhi also vowed to double the central government’s budgetary allocation for women engaged in crucial roles such as ASHA workers, anganwadi workers, and those involved in mid-day meal schemes by bringing ‘Shakti Ka Samman’ scheme.
Further emphasising empowerment, he announced the ‘Adhikar Maitri’ scheme that will enable the government to appoint nodal officers to educate women about their rights and assist them in legal battles at each and every gram panchayat of the country.
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“If we came to power, hostels for working women would be opened in all the districts across the country. This would be done under ‘Savitribai Phule Chhtrawas’ scheme,” he declared.
Additionally, the Wayanad MP declared to implement women’s reservation soon after coming to power in the general elections. He said, “There is no need to wait for a survey that will be conducted ten years from now and then implement reservation for women. Congress will give reservations in all the fields as soon as we come to power.”
Thursday was the second day of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ that covered Dhule, Malegaon and reached Nashik by late evening. In Malegaon, Gandhi held a road show that got a tremendous response from the people.
‘Agniveer scheme will result in more casualties’
The Congress leader has slammed the contentious ‘agniveer’ recruitment scheme brought by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government saying that it will result in a high number of casualties in case of a direct confrontation with the Chinese troops because ‘agniveer’ provides training for a limited period of six months which is not enough to fight a war.
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“China provides training of three to four years to its soldiers. One requires two to three years to become a pro in using modern high-skill weapons. Instead ‘agniveer’ scheme provides only six months of training to our soldiers. Imagine what will happen on the battlefield in case of a conflict, there will be high casualties on our side,” Gandhi stressed while addressing a public meeting in Dhule during ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’.
Further criticising the scheme, the Congress leader also said the scheme has snatched their honour from the soldiers by not giving them martyr status even after giving their lives for the country.
“Earlier, our soldiers and their families used to get pensions and the honour of a martyr status in case of a casualty. With ‘agniveer’ Modi ji made two types of martyrs, one who be honoured as a martyr as they were not recruited under ‘agniveer’ scheme and second the one who will not be honoured as a martyr as they were recruited under the scheme,” Gandhi remarked.