French President Jacques Chirac declared Wednesday that Social Cohesion Plan of Borloo was a new social order to break from the past logic and called for government's will of iron to back it.

French Labor and Social Affairs Minister Jean-Louis Borloo presented earlier in the day a five-year plan that needs 13 billion euros (about 15.8 billion dollars) to create jobs and housing for equality of chances in favor of the country's "forgotten souls."

"There are today too many forgotten souls of the Republic, too many left behind in terms of equal opportunity," Borloo told a press conference as he presented the initiative.

The plan, to be debated in the French parliament in October, is "a new impulsion for a new orientation," said Jean-Francois Cope, spokesman of the French government, who quoted President Chirac as saying.

To make France stronger, united and dynamic, it gives everyone the chance to show his talents and to find his place in the society, Chirac said, adding that "that is the Plan's ambition that engages the whole government."

The plan of Borloo proposed the creation of one million "activity contracts" for the jobless and called for government assistance to help 800,000 young adults through government-funded contracts and training programs. He also proposed to create 300 job centers across France.

In response to the country's housing crisis, Borloo said the government would help build 500,000 public housing units over five years.

French Trade Unions pointed out that the plan was deficient and incoherent and the opposition Socialists criticized the plan as a "social mirage," while the employers' association MEDEF said the plan was "heading in the right direction."

Source: Xinhua