Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022: BJP promises Rs 5 meals at 100 canteens across state

The incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has promised meals at Rs 5 across Gujarat at 100 centres known as ‘Annapurna canteens’ in its manifesto for the state Assembly Elections 2022. The BJP on Saturday released its manifesto with promises that range from free meals, free education to girls and 20 lakh jobs. 

With creation of new employment opportunities, the BJP has also promised to take the economy of Gujarat to $1 trillion in the next 5 years. On the development front, the BJP has promised to set up two seafood parks, free diagnostic service catering to the EWS section, three civil hospitals or 'Medi Cities', two AIIMS-level institutions, four IIT-level Gujarat Institutes of Technology, and transforming 20,000 government schools into 'Schools of Excellence'.

It has promised to double the annual cover under Ayushman Bharat scheme from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Girls will get free education from kindergarten to post-graduation, the BJP manifesto said. For farmers, the ruling party promises to spend Rs 25,000 crore on the irrigation network in Gujarat and Rs 10,000 crore on overall development of APMCs, mandis, sorting and grading units, cold chains, warehouses and processing centres.

For tribals, it promises Rs 1 lakh crore for all-round social-economic development under the 'Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana 2.0' with eight medical colleges and industrial estates each for tribal welfare.

The party has also promised to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and setting up of an 'Anti-radicalisation Cell' that will identify and neutralise terror threats. Furthermore, it promises to survey madrassas and scrutinise the Waqf Board’s assets. It promises a direct benefit transfer of Rs 10,000 per year for 5 years to all refugees given citizenship under the Citizenship Amendment Act. It has also earmarked Rs 1,000 crore spending for renovation, expansion and promotion of temples on similar lines to Somnath Ambaji and Pavagadh temples.

The Gujarat Assembly Elections 2022 will be conducted in two phases on December 1 and December 5. The counting of votes will be done on December 8. Apart from the traditional contender Congress, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) led by Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has emerged as a major rival for the BJP. 

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(With inputs from PTI)