After Priyanka's 'Na Nayaki' Cong drives home a point

Bengaluru: It was not for nothing the Indian National Congress (INC) General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made the two announcements of Rs. 2000 per month for households managed by a woman and free electricity up to 200 units per month for all. There were manifesto features like this before from any party with national standing.

Many voter pockets in the state are already discussing at the village tea shops, urban street corners and even during the leisurely evening over-the-wall chats with the neighbours by the women folk. The common families who are just picking up their broken micro household economies after the Covid pandemic will surely be a game changer for the common people is a general feeling that is prevailing.

Women activists find the two manifesto offers of Priyanka Gandhi as doable. The Rs. 2000 per woman-headed family is not a small amount when it comes to a family of two children and husband and wife with small incomes. It multiplies into Rs. 24,000 per annum which can take care of the ration of rice, atta, oil, sugar, and even a cylinder of cooking gas or a few other items like soaps, and toothpaste, which is a good promise. A wise woman can turn it into a second income if she is smart and manages her family's finances well.

The free power offer up to 200 units per month is also a winner, the first slab of power units from 1-200 units per month is generally used by the common people who do not have power-guzzling white goods. Many such households do not have washing machines, air conditioning, and other electrical appliances that are considered to be luxury items. Television, Radio, and Mixers are not considered luxuries anymore, and they have graduated into the list of necessities that will help women to carry on with their household work with minimum effort. Observers in the social work field and women's activism look at the two promises made by Priyanka Gandhi along these lines.