Decode politics: First floated in 2019, Congress brings back NYAY — what is it?
Ahead of India's Lok Sabha election, the Congress seeks to revive NYAY, a basic income support scheme for the country's poorest, developed under the consultation of Abhijit Banerjee, co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) and Nobel Laureate in economics.
Gearing up for the Lok Sabha election battle, the Congress has dusted off and revived NYAY, the centrepiece promise of its 2019 manifesto. The party coined the term as a political slogan and also as a campaign promise five years ago but the pitch then found no resonance among the voters.
Addressing a rally kickstarting the Congress’s campaign for the elections on December 28 in Nagpur, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said the Congress, if voted to power, would implement the NYAY scheme under which women would be given “at least Rs 60,000-70,000” annually.
On December 27, the Congress also announced that senior leader Rahul Gandhi would embark on a second yatra, this time from Manipur to Mumbai from January 14 to March 20. And the party has named it Bharat Nyay Yatra.