SHILLONG, FEB 9: The opposition Congress on Thursday assured to implement its five commitments that include a direct transfer of Rs 3,000 per month to single BPL mothers if voted back to power in Meghalaya.
Meghalaya Pradesh Congress Committee chief Vincent Pala along with AICC General Secretary In charge Meghalaya Manish Chatrath released the Commitments at the party’s office here, as part of kickstarting its pre-poll campaign with a theme of making Meghalaya a Five Star state.
“Direct transfer of Rs 3,000 per month to single BPL mothers raising their children alone tops our five commitments as this will empower women giving them financial independence and help them in running their house better. Rs 3000 a month translate to Rs 36,000 a year is a substantial amount and this will help women pay the school fees of their children and tame inflation,” Pala told reporters.
“Our second commitment is to provide one job to deserving candidate from every household of Meghalaya. Lack of decent employment opportunities in the state has fuelled the desperation amongst our youngsters and they are compelled to migrate to far-flung cities of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata etc to meet their basic needs,” added Pala asserting that Congress party is committed to bringing Meghalayan youth out of the situation of despondence and dejection.
Speaking at the occasion, AICC General Secretary In charge of Meghalaya, Manish Chatrath took pot-shots at the outgoing NPP-BJP led government and said that the incumbent regime did nothing constructive to channelize the youth energy in the right direction.
“Law and Order in Meghalaya was the first victim of the poor governance given by the NPP-BJP coalition. Large-scale unemployment amongst the youth made them gullible and smuggling of all kinds of drugs from across the border worsened the situation,” said Chatrath insisting that the Congress party is committed to make Meghalaya a drug-free state.
Chatrath asserted that Congress is also committed to making Meghalaya a corruption-free state.
“We are coming up with a transparency law which would be a Mother of RTI. The Congress government brought the Right to Information Act to empower common citizen but Modi government at centre and NPP regime in the state diluted the law step by step and ultimately left it inconsequential,” said Chatrath insisting the new law designed by the Congress party would mandate successive governments to upload all the files related to development and infrastructure on government portals six months after of their closure to bring in more transparency in governance which would reduce corruption to a great extent.
The party also released its fifth commitment to provide uninterrupted and regular electricity supply to all commercial and domestic users. Long power cuts have affected the production and revenue of the entrepreneurs in the state while it also had a negative impact on learnings and growth of kids who fail to study their courses in dark due to power cuts. Congress party’s commitment of uninterrupted power supply will not only boost state industrial growth but also ensure children’s all-round development.
When asked on the party’s stand on the Compulsory Registration of Marriage Act, Pala said, “In Meghalaya, we do have so many broken families and 41 percent of the families are run by single women. Regarding the marriage act, that needs a lot of discussion because it involved the church, the community and the youth.”
He said they don’t want to compare their five commitments with the TMC’s manifesto as the party has decided to give cash support and employment after conducting a proper survey.
The Congress chief further maintained that the commitments are all doable once the revenue leakages in the state are put to a stop.
“We have done a proper assessment on this (as to from where the funds will come for implementing the commitments). Leakage of revenue is very high in the state and we will use technology to keep a check on the leakages. For example, coal is being transported in almost 3,000 trucks a day and limestone is being transported in almost 10,000 trucks a day but the challan given is only for 9 tons for limestones and 10 tons for coal but the trucks are carrying more than 60 tons,” he said.
“Therefore, I don’t think it will be a burden to the state’s exchequer. If we stop revenue leakages, that money is enough to implement (our five commitments),” Pala added.
On the various allegations of corruption against the NPP-led MDA government, the Congress chief said that the law will take its own course.
“We will not be a government who will hunt down others. If they corrupt, the law will take its own course. Our intention is not to hunt or avenge anybody as the existing laws are enough to deal with all those things,” he said.
He however said that the party would introduce technologies to minimize human interference to ensure the state is free from corruption.
“For example, registration of vehicles in DTO there is lots of corruption but if you do everything online the system will be free from corruption,” he said.
By Our Reporter
+ There are no comments
Add yours