Eradicating drug supply chain within a month, and rehabilitating drug victims within six months along with corruption-free Punjab, Jan lokpal Bill, creating 25 lakh jobs, free wi-fi hotspots, disciplining private schools, loans for higher education, doing away with application fee for Government jobs, making sports a mass movement — are some of the promises made by the Aam Aadmi Party on Sunday with the State’s youth.
Challenging the ‘experienced’ political parties of the State, including the ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) combine and the Congress, the sprouting AAP became the first party in Punjab to release first poll document ahead State Assembly polls, scheduled to be held in January-February 2017.
Releasing 51-point Youth Manifesto “for a modern, corruption-free and happy Punjab”, AAP convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal gave a slogan of “sada khawaab, nawaan Punjab” (our dream, new Punjab).
The party primarily focussed of four major aspects for addressing issues concerned State’s youth — employment, anti-drugs campaign, education including both school and higher education, and sports.
In its anti-drugs campaign, party proposed to annihilate drugs supply chain within one month of forming the government, and starting the process of rehabilitation of drug victims immediately in order to produce significant results within six months. Besides, a special drug task force will be created within Punjab Police at state and district levels to crackdown on sale and supply of drugs. High level investigation will also be launched to investigate involvement of politicians and police officers in drug trade, and guilty will be sent to jail and their properties confiscated.
AAP announced to withdraw all “politically motivated and false cases”, including fabricated NDPS cases, and initiate action against guilty policemen and politicians.
A round-the-clock anti-drug toll-free number will also be started where people may sting and report on drug dealers to the Government making every person an anti-drug dealer inspector.
The party would also enact a special law to give life imprisonment till death for drug dealers after they found guilty, and their assets be seized and auctioned.
In its effort to facilitate post-treatment rehabilitation of drug users, it promised to incentivise the state’s trade and industry for giving jobs to rehabilitated drug addicts.
Free de-addiction treatment will be provided in all government de-addiction and rehabilitation centres. Trained Psychiatrists required for rehabilitation of drug addicts will be hired to man all drug rehabilitation centers.
It proposed to make all candidates contesting local Body and Panchayat Elections to compulsorily sign an aIJdavit declaring themselves to be drug-free, besides conducting random Mandatory Drug Tests for election candidates at the time of filing nominations in the presence of DC and CMO of the district.
A ‘School of Addiction Studies’ will be set up which would award bachelors and masters in addiction studies to about 150 students a year.
In terms of employment, the party promises to make the state corruption-free and restore faith of the industry in the credibility of state and its government. For the same, the party, after voted to power, will launch a massive drive to root out corruption from all levels of administration for which it would set up anti-corruption investigation and enforcement wings. Besides, lokayukta would be given greater powers and autonomy.
The party also promised to create 25 lakh jobs and employment opportunities in next IJve years in both rural and urban areas by making state’s youth ‘job creators’ instead of ‘job seekers’.
Party would set up 147 Entrepreneurship and Skilling Centers (ESC) in every block, Punjab launch Pad Hubs (Incubators) in 10 major cities including Mohali, Batala, Pathankot, ludhiana, Patiala, Jalandhar, Bathinda, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur and Amritsar.
This will help the youth of Punjab to turn their dreams of becoming innovators and entrepreneurs into reality with access to technology, infrastructure, IJnance, industry mentors and market opportunities being provided at the launch pads, read the manifesto, prepared by the party’s Punjab Dialogue team.
A Foreign Employment Youth Board Foreign, with five branches in Jalandhar, Amritsar, Mohali, ludhiana and Sangrur, will be created to advise and train youth for foreign jobs in collaboration with embassies and missions of foreign countries. Punjab Overseas Employment Corporation will also be set up to promote employment of Punjab youth overseas.
Wooing Dalit population of the state, it proposed to set up Kanshi Ram Youth Skill University in Doaba region with two regional campuses in Malwa and Majha.
Keeping pace with the technology and hanging times, it has proposed free wi-IJ hot-spots in all villages, cities and government colleges.
Cracking whip on the prevailing “mafia” culture in the state, party maintained that it would “root our” mafia raj from government contracts. “No MP, MlA, Minister and their direct relatives will be eligible for government contracts. Youth will be preferred for the award of government contracts,” stated the manifesto.
Besides, the party would dismantle existing system wherein thekas of all kinds, be it liquor vends, sand and bajri etc, are cornered by the cartels controlled by either political houses directly or by their proxies. A high level probe will also be ordered to look into all previous allotments and alteration in the policies for unlawful gains at the cost of the state exchequer.
In a step towards empowering the fair sex, it proposed to set up Mata Gujri Training Academy for girls to equip girls for recruitment into state and central police forces, BSF and paramilitary forces.
In another innovative move, party proposed to abolition application fee for applying to government jobs, which currently ranges between Rs 500 to Rs 3000, by creating Job Qualifying Exam Centers. If that is not enough, it would also do away with the interviews making selections purely on academic merit “to root out sifarish and graft”.
AAP proposed to provide free laptops on admission to Class IX at the beginning of the session, under the Chief Minister’s Student BeneIJt Scheme, filling 29,000 vacant posts of school teachers with every Primary School having at least five teachers, and introducing Skill Development from Class IX onwards.
Tightening noose around the private education institutions, AAP proposed to have mandatory annual audit in their functioning, and also stopping them from arbitrary and unreasonable fee hike.
Education loans up to Rs 10 lakhs against government guarantee under Higher Education Guarantee Scheme, appointing eminent educationalists as vice-chancellors, professor and lecturers to depoliticize educational institutions, setting up new colleges, revision in curriculum of professional education institutes to match international standards, are some steps to improve higher education.
Focussing on sports, it proposed to launch “Punjab Olympic Mission” in 2017. Under this, 500 talented sports students will be identified from schools each year who will be then provided world class training and other facilities free of cost.
AAP also promised to establish a Sports University with international sports facilities, three Sports Colleges one each in Majha, Malwa and Doaba, and one sports school in Majha region.