DMK promises education loan waiver, jobs reservation

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on Tuesday promised to waive education loan dues, abolish common entrance exams for medical college admissions and reservation of jobs in the private sector, among other promises, in its Lok Sabha poll manifesto.

The manifesto was released by DMK President M.K. Stalin.

The party promised to abolish the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and also bring back the administered pricing mechanism for oil and gas.

The DMK leads an alliance in Tamil Nadu in which the Congress is also a member.

The party also promised reservation in private sector jobs.

The other promises of the DMK are:

Metro rail projects for Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Salem;

Permanent Indian citizenship for Sri Lankan refugees living in refugee camps;

Release of seven prisoners serving life sentence in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case;

Waiver of education loans;

Free power for weavers;

A separate budget for agriculture;

MNREGA employment guarantee scheme days to be increased by 50 days to 150 days

Bring back the Sethusamudram project;

Reduction in cable TV rates;

Re-introduction of old pension scheme for government employees;

Education to be brought back into the state list;

Tamil as official language in central government offices;

Abolition of highway toll