Congress manifesto-II deals with 'Future needs of Delhi'

New Delhi: Congress today came out with another set of promises including introduction of Right to shelter for slum dwellers, double-decker flyovers and mono-rail system to decongest roads and make Delhi a ‘signal free' and ‘disabled friendly' city.

Four days ahead of the Assembly polls, DPCC Chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, party's Chief ministerial nominee Ajay Maken and AICC-in-charge of Delhi PC Chacko, jointly released the second part of its manifesto aimed at addressing the ‘Future needs of Delhi'.

“If voted to power we will introduce the law of ‘Right to shelter, housing and property rights to slum dwellers'. It will be the basic right of Delhi people that unless they are offered an alternative place their accommodation or shelter will not be snatched,” Lovely said.

“Our second important agenda will be the infrastructural development of the city. During the 15-year regime if Congress would not have developed a network of flyovers and underpasses traffic woes would have multiplied and city would have been chaotic,” he claimed.

Elaborating the party's plan of ‘infrastructural development, Lovely said, “we will introduce more double decker flyovers and underpasses so that Delhi is made ‘signal free' with minimum traffic lights.”

“A network of mono rails and light rails will be laid in Delhi and also the network of metro be expanded,” he said.  The party also promised to introduce ‘New fast metro trains' which will halt at only key metro stations where maximum footfall is recorded.

“This system will help people to travel faster and save time to reach work. Ladies special train will also be started which will run during peak hours to help women travel safely and comfortably,” Lovely said.

The party promises to make Delhi a ‘disabled-friendly' and ‘begger-free' capital. If voted to power, it would develop footpaths, community centres and cycling tracks which could also to be used by disabled.

“We will introduce skill-based training programmes for beggers so that they can ear their own living rather than depending on others. Also disaster management centres will be built in each administrative region,” he added.  

Assuring its commitment towards securing religious harmony in the city, the party promised to introduce voting system for the selection of Waqf board chairman.  “Like the president of Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee is a representative chosen by the Sikh community, we will ensure that Muslim voters choose the Waqf board chairman rather than the government,” he said.

Other promises made by the party in the manifesto include a slum redevelopment fund, four government-run vegetable shops in each constituency to keep a check on inflation, more road-side dustbins and garbage pick-up vans, ex-gratia payment of Rs 1 crore to any martyr who dies in line of duty while protecting integrity of state, incentives to private office complexes and housing societies to encourage use of solar power, among others.

In the first part of its manifesto released on January 23, Congress had made an array of promises like significant cut in power tariff, wi-fi facilities in public transport, waving off pending water bills and ensuring a graft-free administration if voted to power in Delhi.

Congress had faced a severe drubbing in 2013 Assembly polls in which it could win only eight seats in the 70-member house.