The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance has released their poll manifesto for the upcoming Punjab Assembly Elections. Their manifesto announces a 75% quota for ‘Punjabis’ across jobs in both public and private sectors.
Coupled with this magnanimous promise, the SAD-BSP Alliance announces a bagful of promises in multiple domains, including health, social security, education, and agriculture.
At a joint press conference, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and BSP in charge of Punjab affairs Randhir Singh Beniwal announced that this manifesto will secure a genuine federal structure in India.
They further asserted that the SAD-BSP alliance would continue fighting to secure justice for Punjab in river water issues and other regional, political, and religious importance issues.
Their promise of a 75% job quota aligns with their election pitch of “Punjab for Punjabis.” To secure this, the SAD-BSP Alliance stated that healthcare and education would be their primary areas of focus. The election manifesto claims a revolution in the education sector.
Announcements were made at the press conference that schools equipped with modern facilities and full staff with a population of 5000 students will be set up in every block.
33% seats inprofessional courses and other areas shall be reserved for government school students. Further, all seats in advanced educational and professional institutions, including engineering and medical, will be reserved for students from government schools.
In agriculture, the manifesto announces a contributory pension scheme for small, marginal, semi-medium, and medium farmers coupled with a farm input price stabilizer corpus fund of 100 crore rupees.
The SAD-BSP Alliance disclosed plans on digitizing governance, aiming at transparency and accountability. They announced, “Our government will root out corruption and malpractices with a brave new approach through digital governance, removing the very need for bribery or corruption.”
Badal and Beniwal also announced that they would regularize the sale of liquor and sand through corporations so that the deserving unemployed educated youth could have access to them.
In the infrastructure domain, the manifesto promises a shift to solar energy, ensuring zero-bill electricity for every household in Punjab. They also announced a scheme for student credit cards of 10 lakh rupees each, allowing students access to quality education. Punjabis shall also hold claim to 10 lakh rupees annual health insurance while women heads of blue card families will earn 2000 rupees each month. The manifesto promises five marla plots for the homeless poor while promising an increase in old-age pension from 1500 rupees to 3100 rupees.
An increase will also be reflected in the ‘Shagun’ scheme to 75,000 rupees. Currently, the ‘Shagun’ plan of the Punjab government offers 51,000 rupees to facilitate women’s marriage from the Scheduled Caste and Other Backward Classes.
Finally, the manifesto announced a 5 lakh rupees interest-free loan for every youth that is also meant to encourage women who are starting or wishing to start their enterprise.
Published By – Pawan Rajput
Edited By – Mahi Gupta
