Saturday, January 22 2005 15:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Patna: Promising to take effective initiative to establish social harmony and give a fresh thrust to development, the Congress today (Jan 22, 2005) pledged to rid Bihar of crime.

In the 23-page manifesto for Bihar Assembly elections, the Congress committed itself to making determined efforts for securing job reservations for the scheduled castes, scheduled tribes, backward classes and the minorities in the private sector.

The manifesto, jointly released by BPCC (Bihar Pradesh Congress Committee) president Ramjata Sinha and AICC (All India Congress Committee) in-charge of Bihar affairs Harikesh Bahadur, underscored the need for political empowerment of women and creating equal opportunities for jobs and education for the weaker sections and religious and linguistic minorities.

The document promised to work for improving and strengthening electricity, railways, roads and other infrastructure facilities, besides encouraging private and Government investment in the infrastructure sector.

The manifesto said the party would also work for implementation of an employment guarantee programme for the poor, modernisation of rural industries, strict enforcement of the minimum wages act and raising the Government expenditure on education to six per cent of the State's GDP.

The party also pledged to give a fillip to industrial development by encouraging setting up a chain of agro-based industries.

Later addressing the media, Sinha and Bahadur admitted that law and order posed a serious threat to the State and said if Congress MLAs got elected in large numbers they would be in a position to play a decisive role in Government formation and thus the party would be able to put pressure on the Government to strictly tackle crime.