Delhi Polls: Congress promises Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration, electricity
New Delhi, Jan 16 (PTI): The Congress on Thursday said it would give Rs 500 LPG cylinder, free ration kits, and free electricity up to 300 units to the city residents if voted to power in Delhi.
The announcement was made by Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy who was addressing a press conference here with AICC Delhi in-charge Qazi Nizamuddin and Delhi Congress chief Devender Yadav.
"Congress threw out the minor partner in the liquor scam from power in Telangana and now it was the turn of the people of Delhi to throw out the major partner in the liquor scam, Arvind Kejriwal, from power in Delhi," Reddy said.
He said that there was "political pollution, environment pollution and pollution of lies" and the time has come for the people to make a decisive change by electing Congress to power.
"Congress will fulfil all its five guarantees if it is elected to power in Delhi," Reddy said.
"There is no difference between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. They have done nothing for the national capital," Reddy said.
He also said his government in Telangana waived farmer loans to the tune of Rs 21,000 crore in one year.
Having earlier announced three promises, the Congress on Thursday announced two more.
Yadav said the party came up with the promises on the back of the feedback it gleaned from its Delhi Nyay Yatra.
"We took out the Delhi Nyay Yatra and got to know about the issues of people which helped us come up with these five guarantees. Today we have announced two more guarantees -- 'Mehangai Mukti Yojana' and 'Free Bijli Yojana'. We will implement these five guarantees in the first cabinet meeting if we come to power," he said.
Reddy said the Congress fulfilled all its promises within 13 months of coming to power in Telangana and it will do the same in Delhi.
He said the rise in prices of commodities and unemployment had impacted the housewives the most.
The free ration kit will contain five kg of rice, two kg of sugar, one litre of edible oil, six kg pulses and 250 grams of tea, he said.
Reddy said three hundred units of free power will ease people's financial burden.
"Modi talks about sending people to the moon, but he could not address the life-threatening air pollution in Delhi," he said.
The Congress government under Sheila Dikshit carried out unprecedented work, including the creation of the largest metro rail network in the country, but Kejriwal only made false promises in his three tenures as the CM, the Telangana CM alleged.
Yadav alleged that there was a scam in the AAP government's free electricity scheme.
"There was a big scam in Kejriwal's 200-unit free power scheme with the money going through the power distribution companies as Kejriwal refused to audit the accounts of the Discoms due to his complicity with them. The Congress' 300-unit free power will be implemented transparently through direct bank transfer (DBT)," he said.
On January 6, the Congress announced its 'Pyaari Didi Yojana,' promising a monthly monetary grant of Rs 2,500 to women, if it is voted to power.
On January 8, the party announced its 'Jeevan Raksha Yojana,' under which it promised to provide free health insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh.
The party on Sunday also promised to give Rs 8,500 every month to educated unemployed youths in Delhi every month for one year.
Polling for the 70-member Delhi Assembly will be held on February 5 and votes will be counted on February 8.
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Bank unions firm on March 24-25 strike as talks with IBA fail
Kolkata, Mar 14 (PTI): The United Forum of Bank Unions (UFBU) on Thursday said its two-day nationwide strike on March 24 and 25 will be observed as scheduled since discussions with the Indian Banks' Association (IBA) over key demands failed to yield any positive outcome.
In a meeting with the IBA, all UFBU constituents raised issues, including recruitment in all cadres and a five-day workweek. Still, the key issues remained unresolved, National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE) General Secretary L Chandrasekhar said.
The UFBU, an umbrella body of nine bank employees' associations, earlier announced the strike to press for these demands which included filling up the workmen and officer director posts in public sector banks.
The unions have also sought the withdrawal of recent directives from the Department of Financial Services (DFS) regarding performance reviews and performance-linked incentives, alleging that such measures threaten job security and create employees.
The UFBU has further opposed what it calls "micro-management" of public sector banks by the DFS, arguing that such interventions undermine the autonomy of bank boards.
Other demands include resolving residual issues with the IBA and amending the Gratuity Act to raise the ceiling to Rs 25 lakh, aligning it with the scheme for government employees and seeking exemption from income tax.
The UFBU comprises major bank unions, including the All India Bank Employees Association (AIBEA), All India Bank Officers’ Confederation (AIBOC), National Confederation of Bank Employees (NCBE), and All India Bank Officers’ Association (AIBOA).
