Farmers Movement Archive

NYAY will be tested in Kerala if Cong returns to power: Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a two-day visit to the poll-bound Kerala, on Tuesday said his favourite “Nyuntam Aay Yojana” (NYAY) , a proposed scheme to ensure minimum income guarantee, will be showcased in the state if the party-led United Democratic Front returns to power.He said he was confident of the success of the NYAY scheme and wanted to test it in Kerala for the first time. “I have a selfish reason to test it in Kerala,” he said while addressing an election meeting in Puthuppally (Kottayam) constituency being represented by former chief minister Oommen Chandy for the past 52 years.“In NYAY, a sum of ₹72,000 a year will go straight into beneficiaries’ bank accounts. We know what is going to happen next. We are testing the new idea in Kerala,” said Gandhi, who took out a rally in an open vehicle before the meeting. He came up with “NYAY” during the 2019 Lok Sabha poll but the party failed to win the election and he later stepped down from the party president post.Gandhi said he wanted to “test” the scheme because if it worked in Kerala, he wanted to replicate it in all the Congress-ruled states in the country. “Kerala is going to show the rest of India how to fight poverty and end it once and for all,” he said.“Look, this is not charity. We are returning your money through NYAY. We are putting money in your pockets. So that you can spend,” he said, adding this was the only way to uplift the economy which “collapsed” due to the demonetisation brought in Prime Minister Narendra Modi, his flawed GST implementation and Covid-19 pandemic.In its manifesto for the assembly polls, the Congress has promised ₹2,000 “pension” for homemakers, ₹72,000 annual dole to the poor under NYAY and five lakh homes for the underprivileged.Later in a tweet on the occasion of ‘Shaheed Diwas’, he hailed the sacrifices of soldiers at borders and farmers protesting at Delhi’s borders, and said the Centre must answer for the “insult” of their “martyrdom”.March 23 is observed as ‘Shaheed Diwas’ to pay tribute to three great sons of the country - Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru - who were executed by the British for killing a British police officer. They wanted to avenge the death of freedom fighter Lala Lajpat Rai.In a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said, “Sacrifice -- of the soldiers at the country’s borders and farmers sitting at the borders of Delhi. The central government must answer for the insult of their martyrdom.” Thousands of farmers are camping at Delh’s borders points at Ghazipur, Singhu and Tikri since November last year demanding that the Centre repeal the three contentious farm laws.(With inputs from agencies)

Hindustan Times

24-03-2021

Other