Holding both BJD and BJP responsible for the plight of people in Odisha due to "misrule, corruption and inefficiency", the Congress today said it was the only alternative and vowed to strive towards empowering the Panchayati Raj system and developing villages.
"Miseries of people, mainly villages, grew manifold during the 16 years of BJD rule. BJP is equally responsible for this as it shared power with BJD for 9 years," Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee President Prasad Harichandan said.
Harichandan said this while releasing the party's programme paper for the ensuing Panchayat polls.
Claiming that Odisha and its people suffered a lot due to corruption, misrule and inefficiency for the last over 16 years, the OPCC Chief said that Congress alone was capable of effectively empowering the three-tier Panchayati Raj system.
Though Congress is not in power in the state, the party is committed to build a self-reliant Odisha by truly strengthening the Panchayati Raj system and making it corruption free, Harichandan said.
In order to ensure progress and prosperity of people in villages, Congress manifesto focuses on rural development, social security, empowerment of panchayati raj institutions, growth of agriculture and farmers and progress of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes, he said.
Promising concrete steps to provide revenue village status to hamlets having more than 1,000 population, he said all villages would have all weather pucca roads, drinking water facilities and electricity supply, while anganwadi centre, school building and health centre would be set up in villages having more than 500 population.
Every panchayat would have entrepreneurship development centre, agro service centre and mandi, while IT kiosk would be set up in every village, Harichandan said.
On social security, he said that the Congress was committed to make the youths self-reliant and empower them by forming youth self-help groups, besides taking steps for providing Rs 5,000 monthly pension to farmers and Rs 2,000 monthly allowance to people aged above 80 years.
Steps would also be taken to provide land patta to all tribal families and forest dwellers, he said.
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