Priyanka Gandhi tweets what makes her ‘so happy’ about minimum income plan

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary, has tweeted her support to the party’s poll promise of minimum income guarantee if voted to power in the Lok Sabha polls.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday backed party president Rahul Gandhi’s poll promise of minimum income guarantee as a scheme, which, when implemented, will empower women. She tweeted that this aspect of the proposed scheme makes her “happy”.

Congress general secretary and Uttar Pradesh East in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday backed party’s minimum income poll promise calling it a women empowerment scheme. (PTI)

“So happy that under the NYAY scheme, women will be the ones who receive the annual amount of Rs. 72,000 directly into their accounts. Empower a woman, empower a family,” Priyanka Gandhi wrote on Twitter.

NYAY (the Nyuntam Aay Yojana) or the minimum income guarantee scheme was announced on Monday by Rahul Gandhi as a poll promise. He said if the Congress is voted to power in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the party will roll out the scheme for poorest 20 per cent families of the country.

Priyanka Gandhi had tweeted her support to the minimum income guarantee scheme on Monday with a hashtag #NyayForIndia literally meaning justice for India.

The proposed scheme aims to benefit around 5 crore families or 25 crore individuals. Offering further details about the Congress’s poll promise, party spokesperson Randeep Surjewala earlier in the day said that this will be a women centric scheme.

“Money will be directly credited into the bank accounts of women of the beneficiary families,” Surjewala told a press conference.

Meanwhile, addressing a public rally in Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi said the minimum income guarantee scheme will be the “Congress’s surgical strike on poverty”. He said if voted to power, the Congress will ensure that there is not a single poor person in the country.

He proposed to define a poverty line for the proposed scheme at Rs 12,000 per month. Gandhi promised that the Congress, when voted to power, will pay Rs 6,000 to each of the 20 per cent poorest households in the country to ensure that they are uplifted above the new poverty line.

The BJP has called it a hollow promise with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dismissing it as a “bluff announcement” made by Rahul Gandhi. Jaitley also said that Gandhi’s minimum income guarantee plan aims at extending only two-third of the monetary support to the people compared to what is already being given under various schemes of the Narendra Modi government.