The Congress on Friday released its manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the presence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The Congress titled its manifesto the ‘Nyay Patra’ and promised a slew of reservations and changes.
Caste Census: Congress will conduct a nationwide Socio-Economic and Caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions. Based on the data, we will strengthen the agenda for affirmative action.
Reservations: The Congress guarantees that it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.
Job vacancies: 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. The backlog vacancies in posts reserved for SC, ST and OBC within a period of one year will be filled. . Congress will abolish the contractualisation of regular jobs in the government and public sector enterprises and ensure regularisation of such appointments.
Scholarships: Funds for scholarships for OBC, SC and ST students will be doubled, especially for higher education. We will aid SC and ST students to study abroad; and will double the number of scholarships for them to pursue a Ph.D. Congress will establish a network of residential schools for the poor, especially SC and ST students, and extend them to every block.
Manual scavenging: Congress will end the evil of manual scavenging. 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. We will provide compensation of Rs 30 lakh to families of sanitation workers (safai karamcharis) deceased while at work. We will allocate sufficient funds to enable the procurement of machines that will clean sewers and septic tanks, and remove human waste. Free insurance will be provided to all sanitation workers.
Freedom of choice: Congress will ensure that, like every citizen, minorities have the freedom of choice of dress, food, language and personal laws. We will encourage reform of personal laws. Such reform must be undertaken with the participation and consent of the communities concerned.
For Senior Citizens: Congress will review the Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007, remove the deficiencies and enforce the Act.
New Education Policy: Congress will revisit and amend the New Education Policy (NEP) in consultation with the state governments. Congress will increase the number of Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodya Vidyalayas and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in consultation with the State Governments.
Sports scholarships: Congress will provide sports scholarships of Rs 10,000 per month to talented and budding sports persons below the age of 21. Congress will ensure that there is at least one community sports centre in every block and municipal town and at least one multi-sport coaching centre in every district.
Jobs for women: We will reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025. We will ensure that more women are appointed to high positions such as judges, secretaries to government, high ranking police officers, law officers and directors on the boards of listed companies.
