Jaipur/New Delhi, March 7: The Congress on Thursday promised right to employment as well as apprenticeships for youths in a series of assurances made by its leader Rahul Gandhi at a rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara.
If the party is voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections, 30 lakh vacant government posts will be filled and a law would be enacted to curb government recruitment examination question paper leaks, he said while addressing a gathering during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
The former Congress chief also promised a legal guarantee on minimum support price (MSP) for crops to farmers, social security for gig workers and a Rs 5,000-crore fund for startups.
Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi said, “There are 30 lakh government vacancies in India. Modi ji doesn’t get them filled. The BJP doesn’t fill them. After coming to power, our first step will be to fill these posts.” On Thursday, the Congress also announced on X its five promises for youths and termed them “yuva nyay”. These included filling of government vacancies, apprenticeships, freedom from paper leaks, social security for gig workers and the startup fund for youths below 40 years of age.
The Congress will provide the right to employment, Gandhi said in Banswara where the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra entered Rajasthan from Madhya Pradesh.
Every young diploma and degree holder in the country will have the right to apprenticeships in the private and government sectors, he said. They will get a one-year apprenticeship during which they will be paid Rs 1 lakh, the Congress leader said.
“We are going to give right to apprenticeship to all youths of the country. Every graduate and every diploma holder will get this right. Every graduate will be given one-year apprenticeship in a private company or a government office, and Rs 1 lakh will be given to the person in a year,” Gandhi said.
He said this will be like the MGNREGA and benefit crores of youth in the country. “They will get training and they will get employment in the first year,” Gandhi said.
The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), 2005, assures 100 days of work in rural areas. Promising a law for social security for gig workers such as drivers, guards and delivery boys, Gandhi said, “In Rajasthan, a law was made for their protection, their pension and their social security. We will implement the same law which was made in Rajasthan in the entire country.” On the issue of paper leaks, he assured that the Congress will standardise the government recruitment exam process and “stop its outsourcing”.
Rahul’s yatra 19th attempt to launch him: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju
Union minister Kiren Rijiju advised Rahul Gandhi on Thursday to stop pursuing endeavours that are beyond his capabilities as he claimed that the Congress has failed every time to launch his political innings and his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is the 19th such attempt.
In a video interview to PTI, Rijiju said had he faced similar failures as the Gandhi scion, he would not have wasted the “precious time” of his party and colleagues in trying to do something that was not doable.
The earth sciences minister also alleged that the amount of hatred Gandhi harbours against Prime Minister Narendra Modi “cannot be measured and described in words” and that the Congress leader also hates the Hindu culture.
The three-term Lok Sabha member from Arunachal Pradesh claimed that the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is yet another attempt to launch Gandhi and that the former Congress president has failed in that endeavour miserably.
“Elsewhere in the world, you do not get a second chance to be launched. I think he (Gandhi) has now been launched 19 times. How long will you keep on launching one person?” asked Rijiju, who has held diverse portfolios in the central government, including home affairs (minister of state), minority affairs, sports and youth affairs, law and now, earth sciences. (PTI)
