Lok Sabha elections 2019: Indira Gandhi also said 'garibi hatao' but only redistributed poverty, says Arun Jaitley
Gandhi promised to provide Rs 72,000 per annum to 20 per cent of the poorest families in India under this scheme, covering 5 crore families and 25 crore individuals.

- Mar 25, 2019,
- Updated Mar 25, 2019 9:25 PM IST
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised to give Rs 72,000 per annum to 20 per cent of India's poorest families if Congress comes to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The scheme will benefit 5 crore families and 25 crore individuals directly, according to Gandhi. "After doing all the calculations several times, we have found that this scheme is fiscally possible," Gandhi said while addressing a press conference today. Gandhi said that the Congress would implement the scheme in a phased manner and it would benefit 5 crore families and 25 crore individuals. Gandhi did not go into the details, but claimed the scheme was possible to execute. Gandhi confidently said Congress would remove poverty from the country with the new scheme if it came to power.
BusinessToday.In analysis of Rahul Gandhi's announcement:
- Allotting Rs 72,000 per annum to 5 crore families would translate into a burden of Rs 3.60 lakh crore on the exchequer and amounts to around 13 per cent of the Rs 27,84,200 crore budgeted expenditure for 2019-20.
- This figure of Rs 3.60 lakh crore is slightly more than the entire corpus of funds Narendra Modi has set aside for centrally sponsored schemes in 2019-20. The Narendra Modi government has laid down budgetary allocation of Rs 3. 27 lakh crore for the Centre-sponsored programmes during the next fiscal.
- It will be about 2 per cent of the total GDP of India. This means that either India will have to go back on its fiscal discipline path, or find resources by curtailing other welfare measures.
Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress has studied the financial implications of the scheme and has consulted renowned economists and experts before finalising the scheme.
Earlier today, the Congress Working Committee met to finalise the manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The manifesto is being framed by a committee headed by P Chidambaram.
After the CWC meet today, Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced the details of the minimum basic guarantee scheme.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi has promised to give Rs 72,000 per annum to 20 per cent of India's poorest families if Congress comes to power in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The scheme will benefit 5 crore families and 25 crore individuals directly, according to Gandhi. "After doing all the calculations several times, we have found that this scheme is fiscally possible," Gandhi said while addressing a press conference today. Gandhi said that the Congress would implement the scheme in a phased manner and it would benefit 5 crore families and 25 crore individuals. Gandhi did not go into the details, but claimed the scheme was possible to execute. Gandhi confidently said Congress would remove poverty from the country with the new scheme if it came to power.
BusinessToday.In analysis of Rahul Gandhi's announcement:
- Allotting Rs 72,000 per annum to 5 crore families would translate into a burden of Rs 3.60 lakh crore on the exchequer and amounts to around 13 per cent of the Rs 27,84,200 crore budgeted expenditure for 2019-20.
- This figure of Rs 3.60 lakh crore is slightly more than the entire corpus of funds Narendra Modi has set aside for centrally sponsored schemes in 2019-20. The Narendra Modi government has laid down budgetary allocation of Rs 3. 27 lakh crore for the Centre-sponsored programmes during the next fiscal.
- It will be about 2 per cent of the total GDP of India. This means that either India will have to go back on its fiscal discipline path, or find resources by curtailing other welfare measures.
Rahul Gandhi said that the Congress has studied the financial implications of the scheme and has consulted renowned economists and experts before finalising the scheme.
Earlier today, the Congress Working Committee met to finalise the manifesto for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The manifesto is being framed by a committee headed by P Chidambaram.
After the CWC meet today, Congress president Rahul Gandhi announced the details of the minimum basic guarantee scheme.