Congress Manifesto 2024: Party Promises To Create Millions Of Jobs Through Concrete Initiatives

Congress Manifesto 2024: The opposition party strictly criticises the current government employment policies and has released its Election Manifesto on Friday.

The Congress Party has pledged to undertake the necessary steps to revamp the employment situation in the country. The opposition party strictly criticises the current government employment policies and has released its Election Manifesto, which asserted, “The most challenging issue today is widespread unemployment. The cry everywhere is for jobs. The unemployment rate ranges from 10 per cent (for ages 15-29) to 42.3 per cent (for graduates under age 25) to 9.8 per cent (for graduates of age 30-34). No one has any faith in the BJP, which deceived the people with the false claim that it will create 2 crore jobs a year.”

“The BJP/NDA government’s response to the grave problem was to abandon labour force surveys, distort data and pretend that the problem does not exist. We acknowledge the problem, and we promise to create millions of jobs through concrete initiatives,” it added.

Job Calendar:

Congress has promised to establish a comprehensive job calendar for each department, institution, and public body, outlining vacancy details and associated timelines for filling said vacancies if they come into power. In addition, they will address the approximately 3 million vacancies across authorised positions within the central government, encompassing teaching and non-teaching roles in central educational institutions, as well as positions for doctors, nurses, paramedics, and additional support staff within central government medical facilities. Furthermore, fill the vacancies within the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).

Abolish Agnipath Programme:

The party promises to discontinue the Agnipath program and instruct the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) to revert to regular recruitment procedures to attain the sanctioned strength in full. In addition, the party will deploy a second ASHA worker in every village with a population exceeding 2,500 individuals. They will also increase the number of Anganwadi workers twofold and generate an additional 14 lakh employment opportunities.

Employment-Linked Incentive Scheme:

The party said it will introduce a novel Employment-Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme, enabling corporations to earn tax credits for incremental hiring and prioritising regular, high-quality employment opportunities. It will also initiate a strategic mining initiative to explore and extract rare earth and critical minerals to elevate the mining sector's contribution to 5 per cent of GDP. This endeavour aims to generate 15 million employment opportunities for unskilled and skilled workers in mineral-rich states.

The manifesto reads, “ We will launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure.”

 Jobs For Les  Educated Youth:

Create employment opportunities for youths with limited education and skills by introducing a Water Bodies Restoration Programme and a Wasteland Regeneration Programme, to be executed in collaboration with village panchayats and municipalities. In addition, the party also said they would form an independent non-profit entity in partnership with state governments, universities, and business organizations to set up a Skills Training Institute in every district to provide short- and long-term skill development courses to individuals aged 18-29. Encourage corporations to allocate Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds towards skill training programs offered by accredited training institutes.

Safer Workplaces For Women:

The party promises to amend laws to enhance workplace safety for female employees, ensure provisions for childcare facilities, and simplify commuting to these workplaces. The Congress will also offer incentives to panchayats for installing and maintaining solar grids to generate communal power and foster employment opportunities at the grassroots level.