NCP unveils 36-point election manifesto

Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) on Friday unveiled a 36-point election manifesto, promising wide-ranging political, economic and social reforms with a strong focus on youth empowerment, accountability and dignity in governance.

The manifesto, titled “Manifesto of Youth and Dignity,” was formally unveiled at a programme held at a five star hotel in Gulshan in the afternoon.

The 36-point manifesto includes:

1. Form an independent commission to set timelines and accountability mechanisms for implementing July Charter provisions that depend on laws and executive orders.

2. Ensure exemplary trials for genocide committed in July, the Shapla massacre, the BDR killings, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and all crimes against humanity committed during the period of Awami fascism; establish a Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

3. Create a special cell within an independent Human Rights Commission with investigative authority to prevent religious hatred, communalism, minority persecution and discrimination based on identity.

4. Publicly disclose and regularly update the annual income and asset statements of ministers, MPs, senior officials and detailed government expenditures through a transparent “Accountability Portal.”

5. Expand lateral entry in the civil service, introduce 100% performance-based promotions through an independent promotion commission, revise pay scales every three years in line with inflation, and include imams, muezzins and khatibs in the national pay scale.

6. Use the National Identity (NID) card as the single gateway for accessing all public services, eliminating multiple cards and bureaucratic complexity.

7. Set the national minimum wage at Tk 100 per hour, ensure mandatory workplace safety insurance and pensions and strictly enforce labour laws.

8. Make TCB smart family cards usable at registered grocery shops instead of requiring beneficiaries to queue at trucks.

9. Establish a regulated house-rent framework and develop social housing projects through public-private partnerships and waqf-sukuk financing.

10. Reduce the tax burden on the poor and middle class, curb tax evasion, raise the tax-to-GDP ratio to 12%, increase investment in education and health, and promote a cashless economy.

11. Prepare for LDC graduation through early FTAs and CEPAs, diversify exports, create new industries and jobs, restore discipline in banking, insurance and capital markets and take strict action against willful loan defaulters through asset seizure and withdrawal of political rights.

12. Eliminate political costs for businesses by completely stopping extortion, introducing a dedicated hotline similar to 999 and enforcing a zero-tolerance policy.

13. Bring inflation down to 6%, stop the publication of misleading economic data, ensure full independence of regulatory bodies and introduce school-based financial education to protect public savings.

14. Lower the voting age to 16 and establish a Youth Civic Council to institutionalise and amplify youth voices.

15. Create 10 million dignified jobs within five years; provide cash-flow-based SME loans; establish a Tk 10,000 crore fund for women and youth entrepreneurs; reduce registration costs; and grant tax exemptions for the first five years.

16. Produce 1.5 million skilled and safe migrant workers annually through government-managed placement, language training, and skills development programmes.

17. Form an Education Reform Commission to integrate all streams of education, introduce a separate pay scale for teachers, and nationalise 75% of MPO-listed institutions within five years.

18. Make a six-month full-time internship or thesis research mandatory at the undergraduate level to link higher education with employment.

19. Reverse brain drain by offering one-time funding for laboratories and seniority to expatriate researchers and establish a National Computing Server prioritising computational research.

20. Establish specialised healthcare zones in the north and south for complex diseases and surgeries to reduce dependence on foreign medical treatment.

21. Introduce a GPS-tracked national ambulance and pre-hospital emergency response system, upgrade emergency departments nationwide and ensure at least one modern ICU and CCU in every district hospital.

22. Develop NID-based digital health records for every citizen, create an effective referral system, and gradually bring all citizens under a National Health Insurance scheme.

23. Introduce direct elections for 100 reserved seats for women in the lower house, gradually reducing the number as women’s participation in politics increases.

24. Make six months of fully paid maternity leave and one month of paternity leave mandatory in all institutions; introduce optional period leave in government offices and ensure compulsory daycare facilities.

25. Ensure decentralised, upazila-based supply of sanitary products and women-friendly health items through direct allocations to health centres and public schools and colleges.

26. Establish a “Diaspora Digital Portal” as a one-stop online service for passports, NID, birth registration, consular services, and investment; strictly monitor and prevent harassment at airports and embassies.

27. Offer investment and pension benefits against remittance amounts and introduce “RemitMiles” travel rewards for expatriates.

28. Ensure education, healthcare, employment, voting rights, skills development and social protection for persons with disabilities and marginalised communities.

29. Introduce integrated public transport systems under a single authority in Dhaka and Chattogram and increase freight trains to reduce pressure on road transport.

30. Shut down polluting brick kilns, promote clean vehicles and green technology, generate at least 25% of electricity from renewable sources within five years and introduce 40% electric vehicles in government procurement.

31. Make effluent treatment plants (ETPs) mandatory in all industries, provide tax and financial incentives to reduce compliance costs, and strictly enforce zero tolerance against industrial pollution and river encroachment.

32. Provide farmers with direct cash-back subsidies for fertiliser, seeds, and machinery through NID-based verification, and establish collection centres, multipurpose cold storage, and warehouses to purchase produce directly from farmers.

33. Strengthen domestic seed research, preservation, and distribution to ensure food sovereignty, and enforce strict punishment against food adulteration.

34. Take a firm diplomatic and political stance at the highest level on border killings, fair sharing of international river waters, repatriation of Sheikh Hasina and Awami League militants, and unequal treaties, including recourse to international courts if necessary.

35. Resolve the Rohingya crisis through bilateral and multilateral diplomacy and strengthen relations with Southeast Asian countries by joining ASEAN.

36. Create a reserve force twice the size of the regular armed forces, establish a UAV brigade in the army within five years, and acquire at least eight medium-range surface-to-air missile batteries.

The event was attended by NCP Convener Nahid Islam, party spokesperson and Central Election Management Committee Chair Asif Mahmud, along with senior party leaders.

Diplomats from various countries, representatives of civil society, and journalists from domestic and international media outlets were also present at the event.