Assocham presses for economic agenda ahead of UP elections

In the backdrop of the forthcoming UP elections, industry body Assocham has put together a 15-point economic agenda for political parties to include in their poll manifestos.

According to Assocham national secretary-general DS Rawat, the inclusion of these points in the manifesto of parties would help generate informed public opinion and achieve double digit growth for UP.

Rawat, while releasing the report titled, Assocham suggestions for election manifesto of political parties in UP, said, food processing, automobiles, textiles, leather, cement, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, information technology, real estate and tourism were significant areas which could transform the state economy.

According to Rawat, Assocham representatives would be meet the top leaders of all political parties in UP to push for the inclusion of the economic issues in their manifesto. Rawat said, this was the first instance of an industry body pushing for inclusion of key economic issues in poll manifesto during a state election.

Promotion of public-private partnership in agriculture, industry and services sectors was of prime importance to job creation and promotion of economic activity in the state. Besides, cluster development approach could also help spur employment in micro, small and medium enterprises, according to the report.

The major recommendations made by the industry body include, acceleration of economic activities, private-public participation in services, industrial and agricultural sectors, promotion of new employment opportunities and giving priority to the development of the MSME sector, he said.