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Equity tops focus areas in Congress manifesto
The manifesto said caste discrimination remains a reality while promising a slew of measures to address inequality and discrimination based on ancestry
Equity topped the focus areas in the Congress’s manifesto released on Friday ahead of the April-June national polls followed by youth, women, farmers, workers, Constitution, economy, federalism, national security, and environment.
The manifesto said caste discrimination remains a reality while promising a slew of measures to address inequality and discrimination against the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST), and Other Backward Class (OBC) communities based on ancestry and the consequent denial of equal opportunity.
The Congress promised a nationwide census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions to strengthen the agenda for affirmative action and a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST, and OBC communities. It promised to implement the 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections for all castes and communities without discrimination.
The manifesto said India’s history of a plurality of religions cannot be altered and all people living and all children born in India are equally entitled to enjoy human rights including the right to practice one’s religion. The Congress pledged to uphold the rights granted in the Constitution to protect linguistic and religious minorities.
It said it would encourage reform of personal laws with the participation and consent of the communities concerned. The promise came two months after Uttarakhand became the first state to pass a law for a Uniform Civil Code. Other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-ruled states such as Assam have promised to implement UCC.
UCC has been one of the three ideological promises of the ruling party. It refers to a common set of laws for personal matters such as marriage, divorce, inheritance, and succession for all citizens. Constitution’s Article 44, one of the directive principles of state policy, advocates UCC. But respective religion-based civil codes have governed personal matters since independence.
The Congress promised wide consultation for a law to recognize civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ ( Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer) community. The Supreme Court last year refused to grant legal recognition to same-sex couples, saying only Parliament and state legislatures can validate marital unions of people.
The Congress promised to tackle joblessness on a war footing with a clear Yuva Nyay programme while guaranteeing the Right to Apprenticeship Act as part of the measures to deal with it. It resolved to launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide ₹1 lakh annually to every poor Indian family.
The Congress called the Constitution (106th) Amendment Act the BJP’s great betrayal of women. It said the law contains sinister provisions that will allow the reservation of seats in the Lok Sabha and assemblies to come into operation only beyond 2029.
The Congress promised to delete the “sinister provisions” and bring the Act into force immediately. “The one-third reservation for women will be applied to State Assemblies that will be elected in the next round of Assembly elections in 2025. The one-third reservation for women will also be applied to the Lok Sabha that will be elected in 2029.” It promised to reserve 50% of central government jobs for women starting in 2025.
The Congress said it was determined to do everything possible to alleviate their pain and make agriculture a desirable livelihood while promising a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices. It pledged to launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor. “We will make a law to specify and protect the rights of gig workers and unorganised workers and enhance their social security.”
The Congress pledged to save democracy, remove fear, and restore freedom. “India’s democracy has been reduced to an empty shell. Every institution, including Parliament, is perceived to have lost its independence and become subservient to the executive government. It is common knowledge that it is the will of one person that prevails in the country. People’s trust in democratic institutions will be restored.”
The Congress promised to de-criminalise the offence of defamation. “We promise to end the arbitrary and indiscriminate suspension of the Internet.”
The Congress pledged to review the Telecommunications Act, 2023, and remove the provisions restricting freedom of speech and expression. “We promise to review all laws that interfere with the right to privacy and make suitable amendments to various laws to uphold the right to privacy.”
The Congress promised to restore the voters’ trust in the election process and amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine (EVM) and the transparency of the ballot paper.
The Congress called the Chinese intrusions in Ladakh and the Galwan clash in 2020 the biggest setbacks to Indian national security in decades. “On 19 June 2020, PM Narendra Modi gave a clean chit to China that considerably weakened our negotiating position. Despite 21 rounds of military-level talks, Chinese troops continue to occupy Indian territory and deny Indian forces access to 26 out of 65 patrolling points, equivalent to an area of 2,000 square km in eastern Ladakh. A Chinese buildup in Doklam threatens the Siliguri Corridor that connects northeast India with the rest of the country.”
The Congress promised to work to restore the status quo ante at the borders with China and to ensure that areas, where both armies patrolled in the past, are again accessible to Indian soldiers. It promised to scrap the Agnipath scheme and return to the normal recruitment processes followed by the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
The Congress promised to pay greater attention to immediate neighbours and re-establish the primacy of special relationships with Nepal and Bhutan. It said engagement with Pakistan depends fundamentally on its willingness and ability to end cross-border terrorism.
The manifesto noted India experienced the biggest loss of forest cover after Brazil between 2015 and 2020 while pledging to work with state governments to increase it, redefine “forest” and “forest cover” following modern scientific standards, and involve local communities in afforestation.
