Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused the Uttar Pradesh government of "insulting" the work done by accredited social health activists (ASHA) and promised an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month for ASHA and Anganwadi workers if her party was voted to power in the UP assembly polls next year.
Taking to Twitter, Priyanka shared a purported video of an alleged "assault" by the police in Shahjahanpur on ASHA workers who wanted to meet Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath with their demands.
"Every assault on the ASHA sisters by the UP government is an insult to the work done by them. My ASHA sisters have given their services diligently in coronavirus times and on other occasions. Honorarium is their right. It is the duty of the government to listen to them," the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.
"ASHA sisters deserve respect and I am with them in this fight," Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said. “The Congress party is committed to the right of honorarium of ASHA sisters and their respect and on the formation of government, ASHA and Anganwadi workers will be given an honorarium of Rs 10,000 per month,” she added.
In another tweet, the Congress general secretary slammed the Uttar Pradesh government over the alleged poor state of goshalas (cow sheds) and urged it to take corrective measures.
The Congress leader has been quite aggressive in Uttar Pradesh for some time now in an attempt to revive the grand old party in the state once again. The party has announced nine major promises as a part of its manifesto for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly polls. Earlier, Priyanka had announced that her party would give 40 per cent tickets to women in the upcoming elections. The party has also announced that if the Congress government is formed in the state, then intermediate pass girls will be given smarthones and graduate girls will be given electric scooty. The Congress has also promised complete farm loan waiver and reduction in the electricity bills to half.
The party has also promised to waive pending electricity bills during the COVID-19 period, if voted to power. The party has promised to increase the minimum support price (MSP) of wheat to Rs 2,500 and an MSP of Rs 400 for sugarcane farmers. It has also promised to provide financial assistance of Rs 25,000 to families who are facing a crisis due to COVID-19. Apart from this, the party has also promised 20 lakh government jobs to the youth of the state.
However, the farm loan waiver and reduction in electricity bills were also part of the Congress manifesto for UP in the 2017 UP assembly elections with a similar slogan of 'Karza Maaf Bijli Bill Half'. However, unlike the promise of scooty for graduate girls this time, the Congress in 2017 had promised free bicycles for girl students from high school to intermediate. Priyanka has been trying to strengthen the roots of Congress in UP with election promises.