The in charge of Uttarakhand Congress party, Anugrah Narayan Singh has claimed that the party if voted to power would make a provision of Rs 1.80 Lakh Crore in its first budget to finance the Minimum Income Guarantee scheme.
The scheme being viewed as game changer for the congress party was proposed by its President Rahul Gandhi on Monday.
Addressing media persons at Rajiv Bhawan, the state party office of Congress party here on Tuesday, Singh said that about 20 percent of the population and five Crore families living below the poverty line would get benefited by the scheme.
“ An amount up to Rs 72000 per year would be transferred to the bank account of the female member of the family under the scheme designed to provide social security,’’ he said.
While making a claim that the announcement should not be viewed as mere electoral promise, he said that the congress party believes in empowering poor sections of the society.
Singh further claimed that the scheme would be implemented immediately after congress comes to power at centre.
“We will make budgetary provision for the scheme and implement it like we waived off the farm loans immediately after coming to power in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,’’ he said.
Refusing to label the scheme as a game changer, Singh said that congress has always been a well wisher of poor.
Attacking the ruling BJP for attempting to fool the people in the name of the nationalism, he claimed that people have understood the ploy of BJP and they are determined to teach the party a lesson in the upcoming polls.
Singh charged the BJP leadership for insulting leaders like Major General B C Khanduri ( Rtd) and Murli Manohar Joshi.
“People of Uttarakhand are very angry with the BJP for insulting a very senior, honest and upright leader like General Khanduri.
The ex servicemen in particular are peeved at his removal from the post of chairmanship of parliamentary committee on defence,’’ he said.
The Pradesh Congress Committee ( PCC) chief Pritam Singh said that the double engine government has proved to be a failure and the people are eager to change the government at centre in the upcoming elections.
Former minister Dinesh Agarwal, Co in-charge
Rajesh Dharmani and spokesperson Garima Dasauni were present on the occasion.