Congress promises 10m jobs in Karnataka

In a bid to retain power in Karnataka, the ruling Congress yesterday promised to create 10 million jobs across the southern state in its manifesto for the May 12 Legislative Assembly elections.

“We aim to create at least 1.5-2 million jobs each year in the state and provide programmes for skill development, encouraging entrepreneurship and increasing youths’ employability quotient,” said the manifesto released by party President Rahul Gandhi in this port city.

Terming its 47-page manifesto a “people’s manifesto”, the party said it wants to create a hut-free Karnataka and would build 5 million houses in the rural parts of the state.

“We are committed to address the urban housing challenge and propose to build 1.5 million houses (300,000 houses per year) for the people of the state,” it said.

Claiming to the first state in the country to roll out the “Arogya Karnataka” universal healthcare scheme, the Congress said it will increase the budget allocation for health from the current 0.9 per cent to at least 1.5 per cent.The party also promised to provide free education to all students from grades 1 to 12 across all the state-run schools.