Moves are also afoot to hold an AICC meeting, possibly in January to chart out the strategy for the Lok Sabha polls due in April-May.
The manifesto will be ready by the first week of February and it will be open for public discussion for the next one and a half months, Ramesh said.
A highlight of the manifesto meeting was Gandhi's assurance that the public consultation process was “only the beginning” and that he will work towards opening the processes to develop policy and political representation through allocation tickets to candidates.
He said that the main way to empower the marginalized sections was to improve their access to quality education and that “the education syllabi must be inclusive and reflect the worldview and culture of those on the peripheries of society.”
Senior Congress leaders including Union Ministers present in the exercise were P Chidambaram, Kumari Selja, M Veerappa Moily, Kishore Chandra Dev, Chairmen of the national commission of scheduled castes P L Puniya and that of scheduled tribes Rameshwar Oraon.
The consultation process entitled as “Your Voice Our Pledge” has been started in view of the fact that the Lok Sabha polls are largest democratic exercise of the world and it must help shape the agenda for India, Gandhi said.
He also said that true governance is that which provides dignity and respect to the people and that ensure that voice of each and every citizen is heard.
On the six-hour long manifesto meeting today, which saw Gandhi holding interactions for around 75 minutes with odd 235 representatives of the SC/ST and OBC communities, Ramesh said that this manifesto will be the basis of the agenda for governance for UPA-III.
Replying to a question on price rise, Ramesh said the UPA government will definitely check it but caveated his response with remarks, “How can any political party totally do away with inflation. Except Japan there is no country, where the inflation is zero.”
“Price rise is definitely a very important issue and the finance minister has said it is a problem afflicting all sections of society. He said reducing inflation is a priority for Congress even today and it will not wait for 2014 elections to do it,” Ramesh said.
