 "How Congress has focused on social justice in its 2024 poll manifesto")
We are two weeks away from the Lok Sabha polls beginning and ahead of the seven-phase elections, the Congress on Friday (5 March) released its poll manifesto, or ‘Nyay Patra’.
The manifesto was released in Delhi in the presence of the media by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who was flanked by senior leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Former Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram — who led the committee that drafted the document — was also present.
Speaking at the event, Kharge said: “This manifesto will be ‘nyay ka dastavez’ (a document for justice) in the political history of the country. From the five pillars of the ‘Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra’ — yuva (youth), kisan (farmers), naari (women), shramik (workers), and hissedari (equity), 25 guarantees will emerge.”
Noticeably, the Congress manifesto has focused largely on social justice and love — a recurring theme even during Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Social justice
In the Congress manifesto, the party has promised that if it comes to power in the 2024 elections, it will carry out a nation-wide socio-economic and caste census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions.
This has been a hot topic for a while now, ever since the Bihar government released the results of its own survey last November.
The Congress has vociferously pushed for a caste-survey on a national level, asserting that it is the only way to ensure equal opportunity for all in the country. Last week, the party’s general secretary Jairam Ramesh had said caste has been a socio-economic reality of Indian society for centuries. “We cannot deny caste-based discrimination in India and the disadvantages imposed by caste at birth,” he said in a post on X.
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More Shorts“To make the distribution of economic growth more equitable, we need a survey of the ownership of assets and the representation of people in the institutions of our democracy,” Ramesh said. Therefore, what is needed is a caste census combined with a survey of national assets and governance systems, which is updated from time to time, he asserted in the post on X.
Former Congress chief and senior leader Rahul Gandhi has also batted for the caste survey and reiterated at rally after rally that his party would carry out such an exercise if voted to power.
Besides the caste survey, the Congress has also promised to pass a Constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and Other Backward Class (OBCs). Many poll pundits note that this move is an attempt by the Congress to try to slide into OBC votebank.
Many other regional parties have been debating the 50 per cent cap, but the Supreme Court has struck down these appeals and stuck to the 50 per cent cap ruling in the Mandal commission case.
Earlier, Rahul Gandhi had said on the same: “If INDIA bloc comes to power, it will throw away the 50 per cent cap on reservation, ensure Dalits, tribals, OBCs get their rights.” He added: “There will be no reduction in reservation of Dalits and Adivasis. I am giving you a guarantee that the backward sections of society will get their rights. This is the biggest issue — social and economic injustice.”
And in an attempt to attain social justice, the Congress has vowed that the reservation of 10 per cent in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be implemented for all castes and communities without discrimination.
Moreover, the Congress has vowed to end the evil of manual scavenging . As per the manifesto, every manual scavenger will be rehabilitated, re-skilled, provided a job and assured a life of dignity and safety. The Prohibition of Manual Scavenging Act, 2013, will be strictly implemented and any person employing anyone for manual scavenging shall be punished.
Love for all
One of the other key focus areas of the Congress manifesto is religious tolerance and equality for LGBTQ+ citizens.
In its manifesto, the Congress wrote that if it came to power, the party would respect and uphold the fundamental right to practice one’s faith and the rights guaranteed to religious minorities under Articles 15, 16, 25, 26, 28, 29 and 30 of the Constitution.
The Grand Old Party also vowed that that it would ensure the freedom of choice of dress, food, language and personal laws. This point, according to experts, is a counter to the BJP.
Moreover, the party has stated that it would encourage reform of personal laws. Such reform must be undertaken with the participation and consent of the communities concerned, it wrote. Many poll experts believe that it is a nod to the Uniform Civil Code and the party’s stance on it.
Notably, the Congress has also spoken about the rights of LGBTQ+ citizens in its manifesto. It wrote in its manifesto that the party, after wide consultation, would bring a law to recognise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
This comes after the Supreme Court refused to legalise same-sex marriages in October last year. While the apex court while striking down the pleas had said that marriage is not a fundamental right in the Constitution.However, Justices SK Kaul, who was one of the five judges hearing the case, did strongly rule in favour of recognising queer couples’ “right to civil union ”.
Other salient features of Congress manifesto
Apart from the focus on social justice, the Congress has laid emphasis on job creation in its manifesto. It wrote in its 48-page manifesto, “The youth of India face joblessness as well as hopelessness. The root cause is massive unemployment that has got worse every year under the BJP/NDA government. Congress will tackle this issue on a war footing with a clear Yuva Nyay programme.”
For this, the Congress has guaranteed a new Right to Apprenticeship Act to provide a one-year apprenticeship with a private or a public sector company to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25. Apprentices will get Rs 1 lakh a year. The apprenticeship will impart skills, enhance employability and provide full-time job opportunities for millions of youth.
The Congress also vows to fill the nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the central government.
And in an aim to empower women, the Congress will launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. The poor will be identified among the families in the bottom of the income pyramid. The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the oldest woman of the household.
Additionally, the party will reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025.
To ensure farmers’ rights, the Congress has also promised to give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the government every year, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission.
BJP speaks
Shortly after the Congress released its ‘Nyay Patra’, the BJP slammed it, calling it a “bundle of lies”. BJP further said the opposition party “did not fulfil any of its promises made in its earlier manifestos for assembly and Lok Sabha elections”.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the Congress has come with such a poll manifesto to create confusion among the voters.
With inputs from agencies
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