**Bhubaneswar: ** Soon after the recent revamp of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) by All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi, PCC Manifesto Committee new chairperson-cum-former Union Minister Srikant Jena has evolved out his ‘Preamble of Congress Manifesto for 2019 Election in Odisha’.
Putting forth his proposal to both the members of AICC and Odisha PCC on April 23, Jena mentions, “Further work will be undertaken in the coming days to elaborate each of the key points in addition to addressing issues of agriculture, prohibition, employment, health and education for the all-round development of Odisha.”
“The preamble will be based on three pillars of Political Representation, Economic Justice and Social Justice. I welcome your views on this,” the new PCC Manifesto Committee chairperson states.
As per Jena’s Preamble of Congress Manifesto for 2019 Election in Odisha, the elucidations on Political Representation, Economic Justice and Social Justice are as follows:
(1) Political Representation: The Congress, if voted to power, will select a Chief Minister and two deputy Chief Ministers from among OBC/SEBC (54%), SC (16%) and ST (22.5%) communities. This will enable equitable representation for all sections of the society since these communities are collectively 92% of Odisha’s population and ensure the role of the “Bahujan”.
(2) Economic Justice: The Congress will liberate the state and its socio-political life from the stranglehold of mining mafias and ensure that the mineral wealth of Odisha is used for the welfare of its people. Illegal mining operators have looted Odisha’s mineral wealth over the years (as per the Shah Commission report in 2012, this was in the excess of INR 2 lac crores). In addition to cancelling all mining leases and transferring them to the state government, the Congress government will confiscate the properties of all illegal mine owners and transfer the assets to a People’s Welfare Fund which will invest in education, health and infrastructure.
(3) Social Justice: The Congress will implement, within 30 days of taking office, the recommendation of the Mandal Commission for OBC/SEBC in employment and education. In addition, the reservation for SC/ST in tehnical and medical education will be increased to 38.5% as mandated by the Constitution. This will correct the willful neglect of these communities by successive state governments who opposed the Mandal Commission report and left Odisha economically crippled as the poorest state in the country (as per Raghuram Rajan’s report in 2013).
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