Modi's Main Opposition Will Unveil New Plans to Help India’s ‘Have-Nots’
- Congress plans one-time farm loan writeoff; focus on startups
- Congress working on rationalizing subsidies, expanding tax net
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India’s main opposition Congress party will pledge a one-time farm loan write off and focus on “have nots” in a bid to woo voters from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling group in elections due by May.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi has already promised a minimum income guarantee to the poor. His party is also considering a plan to provide income for landless farmers and agricultural workers, said M.V. Rajeev Gowda, a Wharton School doctorate in public policy who’s convener of the panel drafting the Congress’s manifesto. Congress will get more people to pay taxes and better target subsidies to help fund these payouts, he said.