TMC manifesto vows to nix CAA and NRC, stall UCC

TMC manifesto vows to nix CAA and NRC, stall UCC

KOLKATA: Pitting “#DidirShopoth” against “Modi ki Guarantee”, Trinamool Congress unveiled an election manifesto Wednesday that promises to repeal CAA, discontinue NRC and stall the implementation of UCC, if voted to office. The party’s list of welfare commitments includes 10 free LPG cylinders a year to BPL families and doorstep delivery of 5kg of rice a month to every ration-card holder.

The manifesto, which comes two days before Bengal goes to polls in the first phase, speaks of allegedly significant undermining of the tenets of federalism and pluralism over the past 10 years.

It says TMC, as part of the INDIA bloc, would amend Article 155 to ensure governors are appointed in consultation with state legislatures. A mandatory three-year “cooling-off period” before retired judges can accept govt appointments or political positions is also on the to-do list.

Mamata Banerjee’s party has enshrined in the manifesto its opposition to BJP’s ‘One Nation, One Election’ proposal as well.

Appealing to voters to see through what it calls BJP’s “anti-people policies”, TMC’s poll document mentions a “price stabilisation fund” to balance out “potential spikes” in the cost of these basic commodities. It also proposes the creation of a “national petroleum reserve” to ensure a 30-day buffer for fuel.

The social security proposals include an annual old-age pension of Rs 12,000 to eligible beneficiaries, Rs 1,000 each a month to unemployed women in the general category, Rs 1,200 a month to those from the SC/ST categories, and a conditional cash transfer of Rs 1,000 a year to unmarried girl students aged between 13 and 18.

The manifesto proposes to increase health insurance coverage to Rs 10 lakh.

TMC, which had stood by farmers during their recent month-long agitation for a legal guarantee of MSP on produce, promises to fix minimum pricing in line with MS Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations and “at least 50% higher than the average cost of production”. It also offers to immediately withdraw all cases registered against farmers during the protest.

The manifesto proposes increasing healthcare allocation to 6% of the national budget and doubling expenditure on education from 2.5% to 5%.

“ILO data shows that of the total unemployed population in the country, 80% are youth. CMIE data says there is 44% unemployment among youth aged between 20 and 24. But BJP will not say a word about this as the cat will then get out of the bag,” former state finance minister Amit Mitra said.

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