IV. THE CONGRESS WORKPLAN

The Congress places before the people this Programme of Action, which is not a just an expression of hope or pious statements of intentions but Plans that will be operationalised after the Congress is mandated to assume the reins of office :

Creating More Jobs

Accelerated employment creation will be the cornerstone of all the Congress’s economic policies and programmes. Jobless growth is socially unacceptable. At the same time, mere increases in jobs without corresponding augmentation in growth and productivity cannot be sustained economically. There is need to review and revamp such laws and regulations as stand in the way of faster employment generation.

We have to create a hundred lakh jobs a year and aim at every family having at least one of its members in regular employment.

When the Congress was in power during 1991-96, an estimated 70 lakh jobs were generated annually. Since then, the rate of employment generation has fallen sharply since economic growth tself has fallen steeply.

The priority requirement for accelerated employment generation is to revive economic growth and sustain it in a broad-based manner at 7%-8% per year for a decade and beyond.

The single largest generator of employment is agriculture. Continued growth in agriculture will generate additional employment opportunities. This is particularly so in regions, which are well endowed but have not realised their full potential on account of institutional, infrastructural and technological constraints. A special programme for accelerating agricultural growth in these regions will be launched.

New jobs will also be created in other areas of rural development like horticulture, aquaculture, afforestation, livestock and agro-processing. These need new investment, credit, marketing and technology inputs.

The rural, non-farm sector has emerged as a major source of employment in recent years. In large part this is due to farm growth itself. This sector will receive investment and technology support.

A stable, long-term policy on exports of agricultural products and commodities will be adopted. Apart from increasing incomes for farmers this will also generate new employment.

The Congress will impart a whole new look to the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) that has significant potential for generating employment in rural and semi-urban areas. KVIC will be transformed into a modern, research-based, technology-oriented, customer-focussed organisation. New programmes for the development and modernisation of the coir industry, handlooms, powerlooms, handicrafts, food processing, sericulture, wool development, etc. -all of which have a high employment potential - will be launched.

A greater thrust on labour-intensive exports of textiles, handicrafts, gems and jewellery, leather, software, light engineering and consumer goods manufacturing will also significantly boost employment. These industries have considerable export potential, which will be taped.

Small-scale industry is a major source of employment generation. It will be made more technology-driven, market-oriented and competitive and its problems relating to the timely supply of adequate working capital, access to technology and marketing will be overcome. Small industry will be particularly encouraged in states and regions where the potential for large or heavy industry is limited.

A cluster approach to the development of small-scale industry will be adopted and the investment ceilings will reflect the need for small-scale industry to invest in new technology and to undertake modernisation. Venture capital funds, Indian and foreign, will be given fiscal encouragement.

Tourism is yet another major employment generator, apart from being a low-cost way of earning foreign exchange. considering what we have to offer the world, we must aim at no less than doubling international tourist traffic into India in the next four to five years and facilitating an exponential increase in domestic tourist traffic.

Moreover, domestic tourism has a crucial role to play in promoting national integration. Special infrastructure facilities for substantially expanding international and domestic tourism, and thus realising the full employment potential of this sector, will be given high priority.

The services sector, as a whole is another major employment generator. So is the self-employed sector. Both will be expanded and encouraged with the easy availability of finance and reforms of laws and regulations that stand in the way of their growth.

The entire technical and vocational training and education system in the country will be vastly expanded and thoroughly modernised. Private industry will be closely involved in the management of Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Industrial Training Institutes, polytechnics, and tool rooms. Job placement schemes run by employment exchanges will be significantly expanded and professionalised.

The educated unemployed will receive special attention. Existing apprentice schemes will be expanded and made more effective. A new national service scheme will be started to involve fresh graduates in key nation-building activities.

In addition to generating employment through accelerated economic growth, anti-poverty programmes aimed at wage-employment and employment assurance for both the rural and urban poor will be given full financial support. Existing programmes will be consolidated to give higher social returns per unit of financial outlay; efficiency, transparency and beneficiary-orientation will be ensured by involving the panchayats and nagarpalikas in implementation. There will also be a special employment generation programme including self-employment through well-funded micro-enterprises, for the educated unemployed in urban areas.

Agriculture

All possible measures will be taken to step up the momentum of public investment in agriculture, especially in the backward and poorer regions. This investment should cover irrigation, electrification godowns, marketing, research and extension.

The flow of agricultural credit, particularly to small and marginal farmers, will be doubled in the next three years. The rural credit system, comprising co-operative banks, land development banks, commercial banks, regional rural banks and institutions like NABARD, will be strengthened and put on a sounder financial footing. Group loan schemes will be encouraged. Micro-credit programmes will be expanded.

High priority will be accorded to the timely supply of electricity and water to farmers in accordance with the requirements of agriculture. A special technology and extension programme for dryland farming will be introduced. An intensive agricultural development programme for the 100 districts in the arid and semi-arid areas will be introduced with emphasis on watershed schemes.

A time-bound programme for restoring all public tubewells to good working condition wherever required will be started. The pace of construction of new irrigation wells in the poorer districts of the country will be expedited.

The Congress government launched the Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) in 1995. The RIDF will be expanded. New godowns, storage facilities, cold storage networks and access roads will get priority.

The agro-processing industry and other agriculture-related activities like livestock, aquaculture, fisheries, horticulture, sericulture and dairy development will receive fresh investment and technology inputs.

The Congress will continue to lay great stress on land reforms, particularly in those states where it has been lagging, to promote security of tenure to the tiller, land consolidation, distribution of excess vacant land over and above prescribed ceilings, registration of all tenancies through Operation Barga-type campaigns and maintenance of up-to-date land records. The Congress will make land reforms an issue for mobilisation and campaign. The Congress recognises the increasingly acute problem of fragmentation of existing land holdings and the need to consolidate them with a view to ensuring economic viability. Special programmes to restore the productivity of land that have become barren because of salinity or alkalinity or for some other reason will be implemented. A renewed emphasis will be placed on wasteland development and afforestation. Industry will be involved in the regeneration of degraded forestlands with the full co-operation of local communities through the Panchayat Raj institutions.

Controls on the free movement of agricultural commodities and the processing of agricultural products will be reviewed with a view to benefiting the farmer. Measures will be taken to increase profitability in agriculture and to ensure fair and remunerative prices for their produce.

The terms of trade will always be kept in favour of agriculture. While remunerative procurement and support prices constitute a key element of this strategy, it is essential to sustain favourable terms of trade through productivity gains and marketing support.

Organisations that supply inputs to farmers will be converted into farmer managed and controlled organisations. This will ensure better accountability. A viable crop insurance scheme for farmers, particularly in vulnerable regions, will be introduced.

Irrigation

The Congress will evolve a national consensus on the sharing of water of inter-state rivers. A permanent solution to all inter-state disputes will be found and implemented. While the use of new technology will undoubtedly lead to a periodic revision of our ultimate irrigation potential, it will be the Congress objective to prepare a perspective plan for the full development of currently assessed potential by the year 2015 at the latest.

This will involve an addition of at least 2 million hectares per year to the country’s irrigation capacity. This will require Special attention will be paid to drought-prone areas, including the enhancement of the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and dovetailing this into an overall programme for their accelerated development. Special attention will be paid to drought-prone areas, including the enhancement of the Drought Prone Areas Programme (DPAP) and dovetailing this into an overall programme for their accelerated development.