Rahul Gandhi Introduces New Scheme To “Assault Poverty”, Senior Journalist Calls It “Romantic Thought”

With the Lok Sabha Elections just round the corner, all political parties are making new promises to the people of the country. Rahul Gandhi has presented a new scheme meant to "assault poverty".
Rahul Gandhi Introduces New Scheme To “Assault Poverty”, Senior Journalist Calls It “Romantic Thought”

New Delhi: With the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections just around the corner, all political parties are making new promises to the people of the country. One such promise was made by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Rahul Gandhi has presented a new scheme meant to "assault poverty".

The new scheme is called "Nyunatam May Yojana". Under this scheme, Rahul Gandhi has promised income worth Rs 72,000 per year to the country's poor. Meant to provide a dignified life to the underprivileged, the scheme intends to benefit 5 crore families. Though the scheme seems to be noble, there are various questions arising on the credibility of the scheme, the sources and the implementations.

Looming on the Congress Party is the parameter that they will use to access the income of people. While the scheme is supposed to provide financial backing to people with minimal income, it still is a question that how the party is going evaluate the income. Though Rahul Gandhi has promised 'NYAY' to the poor, he steered clear of providing any details in relation to the same.

While talking to Mirror Now, Former Minister Salman Khurshid shed light on the affordability and the implementation of the policy. Khurshid said that while they might encounter problems in implementing the scheme, the party is resolute on introducing it. On being asked how the people will be identified, Khurshid said that all necessary details will be announced eventually.

Rahul Gandhi said that up to Rs 72,000 would be given to each family every year. This sum amounts to a whopping Rs 3.6 lakh crore, on being asked the source of this money Khurshid said that it would come from exchequers, export cess and indirect taxes, among other sources. Khurshid added that the affordability of the scheme is a matter of "ideological commitment".

Senior Journalist, Bharat Kumar Raut called the scheme a "non-starter" and also termed it as a "romantic thought". He added that out of 5.97 lakh crore per annum financial outlet, the scheme intends to spend Rs 3.6 lakh crore. However, this leaves the country with Rs 2.72 lakh crore for nation-building. Implementing this policy will leave little financial room to run several other policies. Comparing this policy to "crutches", he questioned if the government wishes to empower people or if it wishes to make them comfortable with the concept of poverty.

Former Finance Secretary, CM Vasudev laid emphasis on the balance of economics and politics in a democratic setup. Vasudev analysed the policy from three angles- desirability, practicality and affordability. He added that the "only antidote to poverty is growth". While the affordability of the policy according to Vasudev is questionable, he added that policies like these should be implemented only after thorough analysis of other countries and past situations faced by our nation as well.

Yogendra Yadav, Swaraj India compared the scheme with the Ayushman Bharat scheme. He added that the possibilities of faulty identification and loopholes in the scheme cannot be ruled out. He raised questions on how the money will be sourced and asked the Congress party to shed light on whether this scheme will replace some of the existing schemes or if it will act as a supplement to them.

The scheme announced by Rahul Gandhi intends to benefit the poor of the country. A certain amount of money is required to live a dignified life, a life where a person can afford all necessities. This new scheme intends to help the citizens in living this life. While Rahul Gandhi made the promise of implementing this policy, there are still a lot of questions that Gandhi and his party have to answer in order to win the confidence of the country.

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