A big congregation of youth was held on January 16. Christened 'Yuva Panchayat', the rally was attended by thousands of youth and was addressed by the Chief Minister Shivyaj Singh Chauhan. Though the turnout at the event held at the BHEL Jamboree ground as part of the 150th anniversary celebrations of Swami Vivekananda was much lower than expected, the chief minister pulled all stops to woo young voters. He announced a 'Maa Tujhe Pranam' scheme under which youth from the state would be taken to borders of the country for a 'patriotic' visit. He also announced that the state government would provide bank guarantee for loans up to Rs. 25 lakh to be taken by youth for starting their own enterprises. Moreover, the state government would also provide 20% margin money for loans for up to Rs. 50,000 and a 5 percent loan subsidy for the first five years of the loan. Additionally, the government will stand guarantee for educational loans availed by the students from banks.

Students securing more than 85 percent marks in the MP board Class 12 exams would be eligible to get a laptop and the state government would also fund the cost of higher education up to Rs. 15 lakhs at foreign universities for meritorious students, Chauhan announced. Under the 'CM Yuva Contractor Scheme, youth who have done engineering from colleges in MP would be registered as contractors in government departments and provided training.

The chief minister also used the platform to reiterate that electricity would be provided for 24 hours a day across the state soon.

Following are the main programmes and schemes announced by the Chief Minister, which constitute the Government's new programmes for youth:

- Mukhyamantri Yuva Swarozgar Yojana
- First vocational university in MP
- Guarantee for educational loans
- Mukhyamantri Yuva Contractor Yojana
- Chief Minister's Young Internship Scheme for graduates
- Skill Development Mission to be set up for 15 lakh youths
- Maa Tujhe Pranam Yojana
- Doubling of prize money for national and international-sports contest winners
- Astroturf in stadia in 15 district and division headquarters
- Moral education in medical, higher education, technical and school education syllabi
- Chief Minister's Youth Olympic
- Activities of NSS and NCC will be expanded in colleges
- 11 community colleges to come up
- Internet facility in government schools and hostels
- Wi-Fi facility in government post-graduate colleges
- Telecast of lectures by expert teachers in remote areas
- Mining Engineering College to be established at Singrauli

The youth panchayat was in fact a BJP show, critics pointed out. Only youth belonging to the BJP youth wing were given opportunity to speak in the presence of the Chief Minister.

Congress spokesman said the party show was organized at the cost of government. It was also pointed out the decision to subsidise interest on loan up to Rs. 25 lakh would burden the state's finances.

Besides luring youth by a series of schemes, the Chief Minister has announced a highly controversial decision to win over urban voters. Addressing a public meeting at Indore, the biggest town of the state, he announced that all illegal colonies in the state will be regularised. Indore, besides being the commercial capital of Madhya Pradesh, is also the city the politics of which is dominated by the Builders. Both the major parties BJP and Congress patronise the Builders. Kailash Vijayvargiya, the powerful Industries Minister is regarded as the patron-in-chief of builders. Indore is also notorious for its illegal construction activity. The Builders are also regarded as the important financers of the political parties.

Observers point out that Chief Minister's announcement will open a major source for raising funds for elections. Observers also point out that it will be a herculean task to legalise illegal colonies. Various factors including the intended land use of the illegal colonies, whether the land was reserved for green belt or the colonies have been built on industrial land would have to be considered.

According to tentative estimates there are 419 illegal colonies within the municipal limit of Indore, a majority of them fall under assembly constituency I, which is represented by BJP MLA Sudarshan Gupta. Nearly 4.5 lakh people reside in these colonies.

Incidentally Chauhan made this announcement at a public meeting organised by Gupta to mark the end of his month-long 'MLA at your door step' campaign.

And as if that was not enough, Chauhan in another populist announcement said illegal hutments would not be removed till alternative arrangements are made. (IPA Service)