Amid growing concerns over pollution in cities and falling level of groundwater, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said India needs restoration of its water bodies and afforestation, and his party will employ lakhs of rural youth for the purpose, if voted to power.
Gandhi said in a tweet that a Congress government will employ lakhs of rural youth in gram sabhas to improve the environment.
“India needs to 1. repair and restore our water bodies. 2. regenerate and afforest wasteland and degraded land. We will employ lakhs of rural youth in our gram sabhas to improve the environment,” Gandhi wrote.
A recent report had said that 22 of the world’s 30 worst cities for air pollution are in India, with Delhi again ranking as the world’s most polluted capital.
Also, the per capita availability of water in India has been reducing.
Making a big poll promise, Congress President Rahul Gandhi has said there were 22 lakh vacancies in the government and if voted to power, his party will fill them in less than a year.
Bengaluru: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses during Congress and JD(S) joint public meeting at Bengaluru International Exhibition center, in Bengaluru on March 31, 2019. (Photo: )
Bengaluru: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses during Congress and JD(S) joint public meeting at Bengaluru International Exhibition center, in Bengaluru on March 31, 2019. (Photo: )
Dubai: Congress President Rahul Gandhi with Indian Overseas Congress Chairman Sam Pitroda after his arrival in Dubai on Jan 10, 2019. (Photo: )
Pushkar: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party leaders Sachin Pilot and Rajeev Shukla offer prayers at the Jagatpita Brahma Temple in Rajasthan’s Pushkar, on Nov 26, 2018. (Photo: Shaukat Ahmed/)
Malda: Congress President Rahul Gandhi being welcomed by party leaders as he arrives to address at a party rally in West Bengal’s Malda, on March 23, 2019. (Photo: )
Congress party Vice President Rahul Gandhi, center, joins hands and raises them with former chief minister of Punjab state Amarinder Singh, second right, former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, second left, and other party leaders during an election campaign rally in Amritsar, India, Friday, Jan. 27, 2017. Punjab state will go to the polls on Feb. 4. (AP Photo/Prabhjot Gill)
FILE- In this Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017, file photo, Congress party President Rahul Gandhi, right, speaks with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra during an election campaign rally in Rae Barelli in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, India. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the scion of India’s most famous political dynasty, has formally entered party politics with opposition Congress party assigning her a position as it prepares for the national elections due before May. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh, file)
India’s Congress party president Rahul Gandhi waves to supporters as he arrives to address a public meeting in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Congress president Rahul Gandhi.(Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi with party leaders Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot in New Delhi on Dec 14, 2018. (Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference in New Delhi on Dec 14, 2018. (Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference in New Delhi on Dec 11, 2018. (Photo: )
Kodad: Congress president Rahul Gandhi addresses during a public meeting in Kodad of Telangana’s Suryapet district, on Dec 5, 2018. (Photo: )
FILE – In this Nov. 13, 2014, file photo, Congress party President Sonia Gandhi, right, and her son and Vice President Rahul Gandhi listen to a speaker during celebrations marking the 125th birth anniversary of the first Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi, India. Following a string of stinging electoral defeats, the 131-year old Congress party – which has led India for nearly three-fourths of its modern history – is foundering. Several senior leaders have quit the party, accusing its leadership of failing to connect with the masses. And the blame is increasingly falling on the Gandhis, the family that has commanded the Congress party since its inception. (AP Photo/Saurabh Das, File)
New Delhi: Former Union Minister and senior BJP leader Jaswant Singh’s son Manvendra Singh, who quit the Bharatiya Janata Party in September, joins Congress in the presence of party’s President Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi, on Oct 17, 2018. (Photo: /Congress)
Congress President Rahul Gandhi.(Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, in New Delhi, on Oct 5, 2018. (Photo: /Congress)
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses a press conference, in New Delhi on Sept 22, 2018. (Photo: )
Amritsar: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) activists stage a demonstration against Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, in Amritsar on Sept 1, 2018. The SAD on Friday said that the opposition party will fight the “conspiracy hatched by the ruling Congress” in league with radical groups to belittle SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal’s contribution to Punjab and in particular the Sikh community. (Photo: )
Congress president Rahul Gandhi.(Photo: )
London: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses during a programme, in London, United Kingdom, on Aug 24, 2018. (Photo: /twitter/@INCIndia)
New Delhi: UPA Chairperson and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party leader Manmohan Singh at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, in New Delhi, on July 22, 2018. (Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi and party MP Deepender Singh Hooda come out of Parliament after no-confidence motion against Modi government was defeated on July 21, 2018. (Photo: )
New Delhi: Makkal Needhi Maiam chief Kamal Haasan meets Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi on June 20, 2018. (Photo: )
Patna: Youth Congress leaders celebrate Congress President Rahul Gandhi birthday in Patna, on June 19, 2018. (Photo: )
New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses during an OBC (Other Backward Class) convention, in New Delhi on June 11, 2018. (Photo: )
Congress president Rahul Gandhi.(Photo: )
Bengaluru: Congress President Rahul Gandhi addresses during a party rally ahead of Karnataka assembly polls at Russell Market in Bengaluru on May 9, 2018. (Photo: )
India’s opposition Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi addresses a rally in Mehsana, about 70 kilometers north of Ahmadabad, India, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2016. Gandhi has demanded an investigation into allegations that two Indian conglomerates paid millions of rupees as bribes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2013-14 when he was governing the western Indian state of Gujarat. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)
Indian Congress party president Rahul Gandhi addresses the 48th Congress plenary session in New Delhi, India, Saturday, March 17, 2018. Rahul Gandhi addressed a two-day meeting of the senior party leaders which will ratify his elevation to the top post of party president. The meeting will also review political developments and discuss the party’s economic program in view of the national elections to be held early next year. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)
Singapore: Congress President Rahul Gandhi pays homage to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Singapore Indian Association on March 8, 2018. (Photo: /Twitter/@INCIndia)
He said devolution of funds from the Centre to the state governments for healthcare, education and other schemes will be linked to these posts.
“Today, there are 22 lakh job vacancies in government. We will have these vacancies filled by March 31, 2020. Devolution of funds from the Centre to each state government for healthcare, education etc., will be linked to these vacant positions being filled,” Gandhi said in a tweet on Sunday.
The new government will assume office in May after Lok Sabha polls.
Gandhi has been making a series of poll promises ahead of release of party’s poll manifesto.
He had said on Saturday that India needs restoration of its water bodies and afforestation, and his party will employ lakhs of rural youth for the purpose, if voted to power.