Andhra Pradesh   

AICC plenary to focus on rural employment scheme

W. Chandrakanth

Congress to identify ways and means to fulfil `nayi zimedaari'

HYDERABAD: The AICC plenary to begin here on Saturday will be in search of identifying ways and means to fulfil the party's "nayi zimedaari" or the new responsibility of spreading the rural employment net and providing succour to the most backward sections of the society.

That is the task to be entrusted to delegates by AICC president Sonia Gandhi, who has approved the exercise of recasting the priorities of governance to suit the party's slogan of `Bharat nirman' based on experiences of the past and by accepting new challenges.

Identification of the reasons for the alienation of Dalits and other weaker sections from the party in several States will also come up for discussion. The focus will be on evolving a strategy to woo them back into the party fold.

After the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at 3 p.m. on January 21, there will be a presentation of the UPA Government's performance. On the second day, the subjects committee will meet to discuss the draft resolutions after the general secretaries' reports are read out. The deliberations on resolutions on political and economic affairs will be guided in such a manner as to remain in tune with the resolution on agriculture-employment-poverty alleviation, being introduced for the first time in the AICC plenary.

According to information available to The Hindu, all these discussions will be influenced by the slogan "Ateet ki neev, bharat nirman, nayi zimedaari" (foundation of the past, reconstruction of the nation and new responsibility) which has been endorsed by the party president.

Farm crisis

Congress sources say that although the plenary may not officially acknowledge the crisis in the agrarian sector, it is not going to ignore the fact either that the farm output is growing at a pace which is not enough to boost the economic growth rate from the present 7 per cent to 8 per cent. Another dimension of issue is the fact that two thirds of the country's population are still dependent on agriculture and that a second green revolution is needed.

Meanwhile, as delegates from various parts of the country began arriving here, the APCC is besieged with last-minute requests for passes to attend the plenary.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

AICC plenary to focus on rural employment scheme
New versions of BrahMos planned
Baiting big shots
Day of the saint-composer
Twin task
All set for plenary
Grand finale
Briefly

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu