Congress releases its poll manifesto for Odisha

Farmers in Odisha will get free power and interest free loan up to Rs 25,000, if the Congress wins the assembly elections in the state, according to its manifesto released on Friday.

Monthly allowances to registered unemployed youth within five years and interest free loan up to Rs 1 lakh to the educated youth below poverty line, were among the promises made by the Congress in its manifesto.

"We will also waive water tax for farmers, who do not have irrigation facilities," state Congress president Jayadeb Jena told reporters.

If voted to power, the party will provide Rs 300 bonus to the farmers over the minimum support price for per quintal paddy, Jena said.

Jena said the Congress will review all the memorandum of understandings signed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in tghe last 14 years of his regime.

The manifesto also promised to order a CBI probe into various scams, including the mining, chit fund, and pulses scams.

The manifesto said the Congress will increase old-age monthly pension to Rs 500, launch a pension scheme for farmers, set up a university for the preservation of the Odia language, and constitute a minority commission.