Lok sabha elections: Rahul Gandhi says Congress will employ rural youth for green push

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that if the party is voted to power, then lakhs of rural youngsters will be employed in gram sabhas to improve the environment.

He tweeted that the country needs to repair and restore its water bodies, and regenerate wasteland and degraded land.

“We will employ lakhs of rural youth in our gram sabhas to improve the environment,” Gandhi said, adding that the Congress’s manifesto will focus on jobs creation, address agrarian distress, and strengthen education and health sectors.

To this, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh asked Gandhi to “shed light on the cost estimates” of the scheme and clarify if it includes the “Jayanthi tax” — a phrase previously used by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to attack the Congress-led UPA government over alleged corruption in the environment ministry.

Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma hit out at the central government, saying that the country has suffered due to mismanagement of the Indian economy and “reckless” decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.