Kamal Nath government to set up panel to track Congress manifesto promises

The Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh was preparing to set up a committee to monitor how the promises in the Congress manifesto, called the Vachan Patra, are carried out. The manifesto had promised farm loan waivers, jobs for the unemployed and a range of measures for government employees, students, women and others.

Promises already acted on

According to party sources, the new government’s first decision after taking office was a loan waiver of up to Rs 2 lakh. The manifesto had also promised one weekly day off for police personnel in field postings, and on January 1 the government declared a weekly day off for police personnel.

Why the party wants a review

The Congress believes that keeping its promises on time will build voter trust before the 2019 polls. Some in the party leadership feel that a key reason for the BJP’s defeat in the recent assembly elections was that Prime Minister Modi had not delivered on what he promised in 2014. A senior state Congress leader said people now judge governments by how much of what they promised they actually deliver, and that a proper framework would be drawn up once the Chief Minister had his new team in place.

How the committee would work

Party sources said the committee would sit under the State Planning Commission. Because the Chief Minister is in effect the commission’s chairman, the panel would report directly to him. The planning commission’s job is to assess the state’s resources and shape government schemes accordingly, and new schemes would be designed around the manifesto promises. Besides suggesting schemes, the committee would track progress and report to the Chief Minister. Kamal Nath, some ministers and some MLAs were likely to be members.

What happened next

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election the BJP won 303 of 543 seats and the Congress 52.

See also: Indian National Congress · State assembly members

Originally published on 4 January 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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