The Congress party on Saturday said its government at the Centre would set up a ‘national poverty alleviation fund’ and impose a 5 per cent cess on the incomes of the top 1 per cent richest Indians.

It said it would increase average earnings as part of the rural employment guarantee scheme from the existing Rs 7,200 to Rs 18,000 per year, bring a farm loan waiver scheme, and give interest-free loans to sharecroppers, tenant farmers and farmers owning up to two hectares of land. At the party’s 84th plenary session, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh presented a ...