Time for change has come in Bihar: Priyanka Gandhi

· Says, 20-yr long struggle will end after elections

· Promises ₹2,500 monthly assistance for women

MOTIHARI (BIHAR) :  Congress General Secretary and Wayanad MP Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today gave a clarion call for ushering in change in Bihar for a better and brighter future of the coming generations. “Time for change has come; you have struggled a lot in the last 20 years,” she said, while addressing a largely attended public meeting here today.

Ms Vadra also announced various welfare schemes for Bihar which included ₹2,500 monthly financial assistance for needy women, houses for the landless, free treatment up to Rs 25 lakh, 200 units of free power, ₹1,500 pension for old age people, widows and the disabled, besides a job calendar in the state for timely recruitment.

The senior Congress leader, earlier in the day, addressed a ‘Mahila Samvad’ programme, where she interacted with women belonging to a cross-section of society like the ‘ASHA’ and ‘Anganwadi’ workers. She said, as a woman, she could understand their problems and their day-to-day struggle. She noted that the ASHA and Anganwadi workers were paid quite a meagre monthly remuneration which must be enhanced.

Referring to the announcement by the Bihar government that women will be paid ₹10,000, she said, it is an attempt to purchase women’s votes in the upcoming Assembly elections. She questioned why this amount was not given by the government earlier during the last 20 years of its rule. Besides, she added that this amount will not be paid every month.

Speaking in Motihari, which falls in Champaran, Ms Vadra said, this was the sacred land as from here, Mahatma Gandhi had launched the freedom struggle. She said, like the entire nation, she also salutes this land and its people.

The Congress General Secretary said that after having realised that the frequent lies and polarisation had stopped working for them, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah had resorted to a new method to form the government by stealing the votes.

Countering the BJP’s charges as to what the Congress had done in seventy years, she said, the Congress had set up a huge industrial network in Bihar and rest of the country, laid out roads, set up educational and healthcare institutions. She said, in strong contrast, the BJP had sold out everything and every asset of the nation and handed it over to its industrialist friends like Adani and Ambani.

Asserting that the twenty-year rule of the BJP and JD(U) had destroyed Bihar, Ms Vadra said, there was no progress, no development and no jobs in Bihar and the people had to migrate to other places for work. She said, there was a time when Bihar was known for producing IAS and IFS officers, but now the students are not even able to complete their degrees on time.

Referring to Rahul Gandhi, Ms Vadra said, he was a true patriot who walked 4,000 kilometers to unite the country. “Only a true patriot can understand your problems, only a true patriot can die for the country,” she said, while remarking, “Real patriots don’t come to power through stealth and theft and they don’t make false promises.” She said Rahul was fighting for social justice for the Extremely Backward Classes, the Backward Classes, the Dalits, the poor, the women and the marginalised and downtrodden sections of the society.

To address the unemployment problem, Ms Vadra said, the Mahagathbandhan will bring out a job calendar where it will be mentioned when the exams will take place, when the results will be declared and when the appointment letters will be issued. Any violation, she said, will be dealt with strictly. She said, all the pending vacancies will be filled up immediately.

Among other things, Ms Vadra announced that the MGNREGA wages will be ₹300 per day and the working days will be doubled. She said, the alliance government will introduce a health insurance scheme where medical expenses up to ₹25 lakhs will be borne by the government. She said, this scheme was implemented in Rajasthan when there was the Congress government. Besides, residential English medium schools will be set up. There will be 30 percent reservation for the EBCs in panchayats and local bodies and 20 percent for the Dalits.
There will be reservation in private educational institutions also. 50 percent government contracts for the work up to ₹25 crores will be reserved for the EBCs.

Among those present were Rajesh Ram, Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Tariq Anwar, Pappu Yadav, Sudhakar Singh and others.