Cong manifesto promises economic reset with work, wealth and welfare

The Indian National Congress (INC) has promised a Nav Sankalp Economic Policy that is focused on job creation if voted to power in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The party has promised to launch an urban employment job guarantee programme in the reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure sector for the urban poor. It also proposes a policy that prefers business enterprises that create a large number of jobs.

The election manifesto of the party, released on April 5 says that economic policy re-set will have three goals - work, wealth and welfare and will address the issues of inflation, extreme poverty, hunger; malnutrition among women and children and the growing inequalities of income and wealth.

The party states that it will ensure that regulatory oversight is based on clearly enunciated laws and rules that will be applied fairly and without discrimination. The manifesto promises to remove ‘the current environment of distrust and fear, and create a healthy eco-system where private enterprises, regulatory authorities, tax authorities and government will work in a spirit of mutual cooperation and respect’.

The party does a balancing act by stating that it will support the private sector and every kind of enterprise — large, medium, small and micro — in their endeavour to create jobs and produce goods and services while opposing monopolies and oligopolies and crony capitalism.

Congress has vowed to review and amend the labour laws passed by the current BJP government and states that it will introduce reforms in industrial and labour laws to restore the balance between labour and capital to meet our twin goals of full employment and high productivity gains.

The party stated that BJP had inherited a ₹100 lakh crore economy 10 years ago and has taken it only to the level of ₹173 lakh crore by the end of 2023-24. “ If the UPA had continued in office, the economy would have doubled again and stood at ₹200 lakh crore in 2023-24. The Congress is committed to rapid growth and generation of wealth. We have set a target of doubling the GDP in the next 10 years”, the manifesto said.

The time has become to re-set and re-prioritise our roadmap for economic development in the context of the twin challenges to our economy, namely, unemployment and inflation, the party stated.