Creation of 2 million jobs for youngsters in next five years, payment of unemployment allowance of ₹3,000 per month to jobless individuals, ₹1,500 per month to poor and destitute women, free bus travel for women in state-run public buses and three free gas cylinders to every poor household are some of the promises made by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) in Andhra Pradesh for the assembly and Lok Sabha elections to be held on May 13.
The manifesto, titled Praja Galam (people’s voice), was released by Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu at his residence in Amaravati in the presence of JanaSena Party president Pawan Kalyan and BJP state in-charge Siddharth Nath Singh.
The manifesto was prepared by incorporating ideas of both the TDP and JSP, along with suggestions of BJP, Naidu said. “This manifesto was endorsed by the BJP, and the TDP and JSP have taken the responsibility of implementing it,” he said.
The NDA, if voted to power, would extend financial assistance of ₹15,000 to every mother sending their children to school under the Thalliki Vandhanam scheme, the TDP promised. A TDP-led government would take up a first of its kind initiative called a skill census across the state to identify youth with skills and provide them training.
The government would provide a subsidy of up to ₹10 lakh for small and medium industries and start-ups. “We shall give our support and encouragement to MSMEs, bring policies favoured to industries, and invite huge investments again,” Naidu said.
The manifesto also promised to increase social security pension to ₹4,000 per month and implement it from April. “We will give ₹6,000 pension for partially disabled and ₹15,000 for fully disabled people,” he said.
Naidu also promised allocation of two cents of land in towns and three cents in villages for the people below the poverty line to build houses. “We shall build houses for those who were already given title deeds for house sites,” he said.
The other major promises include development of Amaravati as the capital, filling up all vacant teacher jobs through district selection committees and releasing of a job calendar every year, provision of pensions for other backward classes from the age of 50 years, besides providing 34% reservations for the OBCs in local bodies, spending of ₹10,000 crore every year to provide self-employment to OBCs, free electricity up to 200 units for handlooms and 500 units for power looms, payment of an honorarium of ₹25,000 to the Nayi Brahmins working in temples, provision of 10% quota to toddy tappers in liquor shops, interest-free loans up to ₹10 lakh to women self-help groups, and continuation of village and ward volunteers by increasing their remuneration to ₹10,000 per month.The manifesto also promised supply of nine hours of uninterrupted and free power for agriculture and installation of solar pump sets. Under the Rythu Bharosa scheme, cultivators will be given ₹20,000 per year. Meanwhile, YSR Congress party chief and Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy pointed out that the manifesto did not have the picture of any BJP national leader, more so PM Narendra Modi.“Before Naidu unveiled the manifesto …the BJP headquarters notified him not to use the PM’s photo. This proves that his promises are unattainable, and BJP doesn’t agree with it,” Jagan said.