Jairam Ramesh on why the Congress manifesto matters

Aapki Aawaaz, Hamara Sankalp – the message on the cover of the 2014 manifesto of the Indian National Congress aptly sums up its message. Drafted after more than 30 consultations across the country, led by Rahul Gandhi, and after reviewing more than 1.3 lakh inputs from people across India, the manifesto is firmly grounded on the Party’s long cherished ideals of equity, equality and dignity. It proposes a new vision for our rapidly modernising country. A vision that ensures empowerment and creates opportunities for all Indians. What we have achieved in 10 years We promised the people of India, an agenda for inclusive growth. We delivered on it. In 2004, we pledged to enact a law to guarantee 100 days of employment to rural households. The Congress brought in the landmark Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Guarantee Act, today under this scheme every year one in four rural households are provided employment. In 2009, we pledged a Food Security Act. We delivered The National Food Security Act to provide access to quality food and nutrition to every Indian. [caption id=“attachment_1467927” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Rahul Gandhi and Manmohan Singh release the Congress manifesto. PTI[/caption] We also promised a new land acquisition act in 2009, which we delivered – this law was a historic victory for our farmers – both landholders and landless – who will now get due compensation whenever their land needs to be acquired. We were outraged and anguished by the unacceptable acts of violence and disrespect towards our women. We brought in historic reform with regard to women’s rights in the form of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2013 and the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment at Workplace Act, 2013 to make the system more sensitive to the challenges faced by our women. The most impressive is the exponential growth in rate of poverty decline in these ten years – 14 crore people were pulled out of poverty during the UPA regime and the rate of poverty declined three times faster compared to the NDA period. Our adversaries have repeatedly criticised the Congress party for focusing only on the social sector at the cost of focus on economic growth. This is simply untrue. The UPA government delivered an average economic growth rate of 7.5%, compared to 5.9% under the NDA. There are various other achievements that stand out. What we promise in 2014:  Reviving Economic Growth With an aim to reach an 8% growth rate within the next 3 years, a series of measures have been proposed in the Congress manifesto, while giving utmost priority to ensuring inflation is under control. Within 100 days of government formation, we will announce a Jobs Agenda. We will ensure 10 crore youth are skilled and provided with jobs within the next 5 years. An investment of 1 trillion US$ over a period of ten years will be done for strengthening the country’s infrastructure. Manufacturing sector will be a key priority. The manifesto promises the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax and a Direct Tax Code Bill within 1 year. The GST – the single biggest economic reform that our country needs – has been in limbo due to strong opposition by some leaders. The fact is that the BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate was unwilling to allow its passage, despite his own colleagues being firmly behind the proposed measure. Both these measures can go a long way in easing doing business in India, improving sentiments amongst entrepreneurs and investors and enhancing economic growth. We will ensure these are passes within 1 year. Our Renewed Commitment to Rural India While the Congress has been criticised for harping on inclusive growth, the new deal that it promised to rural India in 2004 has actually helped reduce the gap between rural and urban divide. The rural growth story has been one of the greatest achievements of the UPA in the last ten years. This has been made possible by implementation of projects like the Prime Minister’s Gram Sadak Yojna and the Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, which have become ubiquitous in rural India. The Indian National Congress will provide a Right to Health for all Indians. We believe an educated and healthy population is not just an end in itself, but also a prerequisite for growth and development. We will implement a Universal Pension Scheme for vulnerable households which will provide a social security to vulnerable populations, particularly for the elderly, widowed women and destitute. The Right to Home/ Homestead for the homeless and landless, is overdue and will be a priority for the Congress Party. We will ensure easy access, low-interest loans of up to Rs one lakh for all women through women’s self-help groups. The Indian National Congress has always championed the cause of farmers. We ensure farmers get better rates for their crops and we will provide concessional loans of upto Rs five lakh for collectives of small and marginal farmers. The Communal Violence Bill, which was drafted and introduced by the Indian National Congress, remains an important commitment. We will ensure all panchayats have rural broadband connectivity. All government benefits will reach the poor directly and rapidly, through the Aapka Paisa Aapka Haath initiative, implemented through the Aadhaar programme, eradicating the power of middlemen. Every Indian will have a bank account within 5 years. Conclusion Our opponents have nothing much to offer. Despite the BJP’s rhetoric, we are yet to see their manifesto, they are yet to pull together a set of policies that would specifically define what they would offer the country. The campaign of the BJP is about one individual, it is: I, me and myself. The Congress Party, on the other hand, seeks the people’s mandate on a proven track record of delivering on its promises and a clear agenda of commitments going forward. The Congress manifesto is a vision document for the growth and prosperity of a plural, dynamic democracy where every section of society partakes in the prosperity unleashed by economic growth. It seeks to empower all – rural, urban, minorities, youth, old, businesses and scheduled castes and tribes – while keeping an unwavering focus on economic growth of the nation. Jairam Ramesh is the Minister of Rural Development