Lucknow, Dec 04: The Indian Youth Congress (IYC) has extended its membership drive till December 15 in a bid to reap the benefit of AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to the state.
Rahul will undertake a tour of different Lok Sabha constituencies in the state on December 7 and 8 to mobilise the youth for the IYC. Earlier, the last date for the membership drive was December 9.
The Youth Congress, meanwhile, has decided to accept job cards issued under NREGA and ration cards as evidence of age for those who want to join the IYC.
“We demand address proof, besides age proof. In Uttar Pradesh, it is difficult for a youth to produce birth certificate, passport, PAN card, driver’s licence, state board examination certificate/school leaving certificate and certificate granted by medical practitioner not below the rank of civil surgeon in support of his or her claim that they are between 18 to 35 years,” a source in the IYC said. The IYC is offering membership to only those who are born on or after May 1, 1975.
The IYC will complete the work of data processing within two months after the membership drive ends. “Then the voters’ list will be published. I hope the process for organisational elections will be completed within the coming four months,” a source said.
The Youth Congress is in the process of constituting its bodies right from the panchayat to the state level. “There are 19,000 panchayats across the 26 parliamentary constituencies in which membership drive has been undertaken. The committee at the Panchayat level will comprise five members,” the source added.
–Agencies