CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and DMK president MK Stalin on Wednesday released the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha election, which on expected lines, promised that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), and the proposals for Uniform Civil Code (UCC), and One Nation, One Election will be dropped if it is elected to power as part of the INDIA bloc. The party also said it will secure exemption from the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for Tamil Nadu. The DMK’s manifesto promised a thorough review of laws introduced by the BJP government over the past decade, with a commitment to uphold people-centric legislation. Disbanding the current NITI Aayog, set up by the BJP regime and establishing again the Planning Commission to draft plans based on the requests of state governments is another assurance the DMK has made.The DMK said it will conduct a caste census and collect information on individuals below poverty line. The party said it will ensure that the delimitation exercise is carried out without affecting the composition of the number of Lok Sabha seats in each State. Furthermore, the manifesto pledges to revoke the New Education Policy (NEP) 2020.Additionally, the party promised to cap the prices of essential commodities such as petrol, diesel, and LPG cylinders to make them more affordable for the common populace. Petrol and diesel prices “will be set at Rs 75, Rs 65 (per litre)” and cooking gas cylinder shall be made available at “Rs 500 (per cylinder)”, the manifesto said.Waiving loans and interests for farmers in nationalised and scheduled banks, waiver of educational loans for students, monthly entitlement of Rs 1000 for all women in every state and formation of State Development Council by including Chief Ministers were among the promises made by the DMK.To alleviate the financial strain faced by states, the DMK proposed that state councils will be empowered to determine factors for fund devolution by the Finance Commission. Additionally, it said it would recommend sharing of cess revenues with States and increasing the horizontal devolution of tax revenue for all States from 42% to 50%.While stressing that the party’s position was to abolish the posts of Governors, the party said it will ensure that Governors are appointed only after consultation with the respective State governments.In the realm of education, the manifesto promised to move education from Concurrent List to State List of Constitution, besides the establishment of central universities in Tamil Nadu and the abolition of central government-mandated public exams in state educational institutions. It also pledged to ensure Tamil is recognised as an optional language in all Union government examinations.Addressing infrastructure concerns, the DMK pledged to introduce Metro rail services in several cities across Tamil Nadu and accelerate expansion projects for airports. For the welfare of women, it said, “DMK will insist that the Union government enact a law providing menstrual leave to women, emphasizing the journey towards gender equality.”The manifesto also said that a 33 per cent reservation for women in Parliament and legislative assemblies would be implemented immediately.
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