Congress president Rahul Gandhi said 20 percent of poorest families will get Rs. 72,000 per year as part of Congress's minimum income promise. "People have suffered in the last five years. We will give justice to them," Mr. Gandhi said, addressing a press conference.

Making the announcement at a press conference here, Gandhi said five crore families and 25 crores will directly benefit from the scheme. "Final assault on poverty has begun. We will wipe out poverty from the country," he said. 

"The final assault on poverty has begun," he said of the scheme named Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY) by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a recent party conclave in Gujarat. The acronym NYAY means "justice" in Hindi.

The money will be directly transferred to the bank accounts of 20 percent of the poorest in the country. The scheme, said the Congress president, would lift five crore families or 25 crore people out of poverty. 

Gandhi said "It is fiscally possible. We have done all the calculations, asked the best economists, they all backed us. We have been studying the scheme for four-five months, It is an extremely powerful, ground-breaking and well-thought through the idea. We have consulted many economists on the scheme," he said. "People have suffered in the last five years and we are going to give justice to them," he added.