Cong will restore old pension scheme if voted to power in Himachal: Priyanka

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday promised to restore the old pension scheme for government employees in Himachal Pradesh if the Congress was voted to power in the Assembly electionsThe AICC general secretary made the announcement while addressing the Parivartan Pratigya Rally at Thodo Maidan in Solan district and added that the old scheme was withdrawn by the BJP government at the CentreElections in Himachal Pradesh will be held on November 12 the Election Commission of India announced on FridayGandhi said she guaranteed that the decision to restore the old pension scheme and create one lakh jobs would be taken in the first meeting of the new Congress CabinetTwo lakh employees in the state have been sitting on a dharna sitin to demand restoration of the old pension scheme for two months but no government representative met them she saidGandhi also alleged that 63000 posts were lying vacant in the state but unemployed youths had not been provided jobs She promised that five lakh jobs would be provided to unemployed youths in five years and announced a monthly allowance of Rs 1500 to women to help raise the standard of livingThis is the time to change otherwise you will not get anything in the next five years she saidIf you vote the Congress to power Himachal Pradesh will growAlso Read Two injured as explosives planted to kill wild boar goes off in Uttar PradeshGandhi also hit back at the BJP for claiming that Himachal would buck the trend of changing governments every five years and said the ruling party changed the trend by not making any developmentThe Congress leader also addressed the increasing trend of drug addition in the state and said a policy would be created and deaddiction centres opened in every district Primary health centres will also be strengthened to provide better health care facilities to peopleGandhi added that she made her house in Himachal as her grandmother former prime minister Indira Gandhi wanted to build a house and retire there but was martyred before she couldEarlier she paid obeisance at Maa Shoolini Temple in Solan district before formally launching the partys election campaign in the hill state She started her address with Shoolini Mata Ki Jai and also released the Congress election theme songGandhis rally comes a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed two rallies in Una and Chamba after inaugurating and laying the foundation stones of various projects including flagging off Indias fourth Vande Bharat Express from UnaChhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel the Congress Himachal unit president Pratibha Singh Leader of Opposition in Himachal Assembly Mukesh Agnihotri the partys election campaign committee chairperson Sukhvinder Sukhu senior leader Rajeev Shukla and Leader of Opposition in Punjab Assembly Pratap SinghBajwa also addressed the rallyThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever