)
The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) on Sunday released its election manifesto, which primarily focused on waiving loans of Development Of Women and Children In Rural Areas (DWCRA) women to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore, setting up orphanages in every Assembly Constituency and banning liquor belt shops in villages.
The party, floated by YS Jaganmohan Reddy in November 2010, also promised to set up a Rs 2,000-crore natural calamities fund under which farmers would be given immediate relief, establishing three agricultural and veterinary universities, increasing pension to Rs 700 per month, providing seven-hour compulsory power to farmers daily, constructing five million houses in next five years and making Visakhapatnam a pollution-free city.
Speaking on the occasion, YSRCP president Jagan said the party had inducted in the manifesto the issues which it had been saying for the last four years. “Summing it up, we will bring back the golden era of late YS Rajasekhara Reddy and try to give more,” he said.
Accusing Telugu Desam Party (TDP) president N Chandrababu Naidu of managing the media, Jagan said the gross domestic product during Naidu’s rule was only 5.7 per cent, while it grew to 9.6 per cent during YSR’s rule.
“The agricultural growth rate during Naidu’s rule was 3.84 per cent, which rose to 6.14 per cent during the YSR regime. However, the figure came down to 2.56 per cent after the demise of YSR in 2009,” he said, adding about 65 public-sector undertakings were closed down during the rule of Naidu, resulting in 26,000 people losing their jobs.
“The number of IT employees during Naidu’s tenure was 81,000. The figure increased to 235,000 during the YSR government,” he said.
