TNI Bureau: The Congress party on Friday released it manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls at the party headquarters in New Delhi.
The party pledged a series of commitments, ranging from the immediate restoration of Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood to abolition of the Agnipath program and legal guarantee to MSP.
Top party leaders, including Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former Congress Presidents Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, party General Secretary KC Venugopal and senior leader P Chidambaram among others were present during the release of the manifesto titled ‘Nyay Patra’.
Equity:
➡️Congress will conduct nationwide socio-economic and caste census.
➡️Congress guarantees it will pass constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.
➡️The manifesto appealed to people to look beyond religion, language, caste; choose wisely and install democratic government.
➡️10% quota in jobs, educational institutions for EWS will be implemented for all castes, communities without discrimination.
➡️Will fill all the backlog vacancies in posts reserved for SC, ST and OBC within a period of one year.
➡️Congress will abolish the contractualisation of regular jobs in the government and public sector enterprises and ensure regularisation of such appointments.
Religious and Linguistic Minorities
➡️Will restore the Maulana Azad Scholarships for study abroad and increase the number of scholarships.
➡️Will 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.
➡️Will respect and uphold the rights of linguistic minorities guaranteed under Articles 15, 16, 29 and 30 of the Constitution.
➡️Senior citizens, persons with disabilities and LGBTQIA+
➡️Congress will raise the pension amount for senior citizens, widows and persons with disabilities under the National Social Assistance Programme to 1,000 per month.
➡️Will restore travel concessions in public transport (rail and road) for senior citizens.
➡️Will recognise the Braille script and Sign Language as languages.
➡️Congress will provide representation for persons with disabilities in local Government bodies.
➡️Congress will bring a law to recognize civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Health
➡️Healthcare will be universal and free in public health centres such as hospitals, clinics, primary health centres, mobile healthcare units, dispensaries and health camps.
➡️Congress will ensure full immunisation of 100% of children within 5 years.
➡️Cashless insurance up to 25 lakhs will be adopted for universal healthcare.
➡️Maternity benefits will be available to all women. All employers shall mandatorily grant paid maternity leave for their employees.
➡️The contribution of the Central government to the pay of frontline health workers (such as ASHA, Anganwadi, Mid-Day Meal cooks, etc.) will be doubled.
Youth
➡️Congress’ manifesto promised to fill nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the central government.
➡️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 1 lakh a year.
➡️Congress will provide sports scholarships of 10,000 per month for talented and budding sportspersons below the age of 21.
➡️Will abolish application fees for government examinations and government posts.
Education
➡️Will amend the RTE Act to make education from Class I to Class XII in public schools compulsory and free.
➡️Will end the practice of charging special fees for different purposes in public schools.
➡️School and college syllabuses will emphasise the study of STEM subjects in order to develop a scientific temper.
➡️Congress will increase the number of Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navodya Vidyalayas and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas in consultation with the State Governments.
➡️Will fill all teaching and non-teaching vacancies in central universities and other central educational institutions.
Sports
➡️Congress will provide sports scholarships of 10,000 per month to talented and budding sports persons below the age of 21.
➡️Congress will enact a separate legislation for the registration of sports federations/bodies/associations which will ensure full compliance with the Olympic Charter, allow for autonomy and full accountability, and provide recourse for members and sportspersons against discrimination, bias, sexual harassment, abuse, wrongful termination, etc.
Women
➡️Congress resolves to 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.
➡️Will reserve one-half (50%) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025.
➡️We will ensure that the principle of ‘Same Work, Same Wages’ is enforced in order to prevent discrimination in wages for women.
➡️The contribution of the Central government to the pay of frontline health workers (such as ASHA, Anganwadi, Mid-Day Meal cooks, etc.) will be doubled.
➡️Will substantially increase the amount of institutional credit that is extended to women. In particular, we will vastly enhance the credit extended to Self Help Groups by banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies and Micro Finance Institutions.
➡️Will appoint an Adhikar Maitri in every Panchayats to serve as a paralegal to educate women and assist them in the enforcement of their legal rights.
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Farmers
➡️Congress will give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the government every year, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission.
➡️The Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP) will be made a statutory body.
➡️MSP payable to the farmer-seller at the procurement centres and APMCs will be directly credited digitally to the bank account of the farmer.
➡️Will establish farmers’ retail markets in large villages and small towns to enable the farmers to bring their produce and sell the same to consumers.
Fisheries and fishing communities
➡️Will restore the subsidy for diesel for sea-going fishing communities.
➡️Commit to expeditious search for fisherfolk missing at sea. If presumed dead, death certificates will be issued within 3 months.
➡️Will direct insurance companies to provide insurance cover for sea-going fishing boats.
➡️Fishing communities will be issued credit cards (like Kisan Credit Cards) by banks and extended credit.
➡️Fishing communities will be enumerated in the caste census and given identity cards by the Central Government. 6. Inland fishing and aquaculture will be recognized as ‘agriculture’.
Workers
➡️Congress will ensure that the principle of ‘Same Work, Same Wages’ is enforced in order to prevent discrimination in wages for women.
➡️Will increase the wage under MGNREGA to 400 per day. MGNREGA funds and workers may also be deployed to build public assets such as classrooms, libraries and primary health centres.
➡️Will launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure.
➡️Sufficient funds will be allocated to PDS, ICDS and the Mid-day Meal Scheme to fulfil the mandate of the National Food Security Act, 2013.
➡️Congress will collaborate with the state governments to open Indira Canteens that will offer subsidised meals as has been done in Karnataka and Rajasthan.
➡️Appoint a second ASHA worker in all villages with a population exceeding 2,500 persons.
➡️Double the number of Anganwadi workers and create an additional 14 lakh jobs.
➡️The Congress guarantees a national minimum wage at 400 per day.
Defending the constitution
➡️The Congress promise that the two Houses of Parliament will each meet for 100 days in a year and the great traditions of Parliament that prevailed in the past will be revived and scrupulously observed.
➡️The party promise that one day in a week will be devoted to discuss the agenda suggested by the opposition benches in each House. We promise that the presiding officers of the two Houses will be required to sever their connection with any political party, remain neutral, and observe the age-old norm that the ‘Speaker does not speak’.
Media
➡️All media houses, irrespective of the size, will be required to disclose their ownership structures (direct and indirect), cross holdings, revenue streams, etc. through their websites.
➡️Congress will pass a law to preserve the freedom of the Internet and to prevent arbitrary and frequent shutdowns of the Internet.
➡️Congress will amend the Press Council of India Act, 1978 to empower the Council to deal with the menace of fake news and paid news.
Economy
➡️Congress will create thousands of jobs as outlined in the next chapter. The best creator of jobs is the private sector. In particular, the MSME sector is the creator of the largest number of jobs, especially for workers with average education and average skills.
➡️Will ensure that banks offer low-interest loans to Self-Help Groups.
➡️Full employment is our goal and we will make every effort to ensure that the large workforce is gainfully employed.
Employment
➡️Fill the nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the central government, teaching and non-teaching posts in central educational institutions, posts of doctors, nurses, paramedics and other supporting staff in central government medical institutions, and vacancies in the Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF).
➡️Publish a job calendar for each department, institution and public body with details of vacancies and the timelines to fill the vacancies.
➡️Abolish the Agnipath programme and direct the Armed Forces (Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard) to resume normal recruitment to achieve the full sanctioned strength.
➡️Appoint a second ASHA worker in all villages with a population exceeding 2,500 persons.
➡️Double the number of Anganwadi workers and create an additional 14 lakh jobs.
➡️Will launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure.
Tax reforms
➡️Congress will enact a Direct Taxes Code that will usher in an era of transparency, equity, clarity and impartial tax administration of direct taxes.
➡️Congress will maintain stable personal income tax rates throughout its term. This will ensure that the salaried class is not subjected to rising tax rates and have clarity to plan their finances over the medium-to-long period.
➡️Congress will eliminate “Angel tax” and all other exploitative tax schemes that inhibit investment in new micro, small companies and innovative start-ups.
➡️Congress will lessen the burden of tax on MSMEs owned by individuals and partnership firms. 5. We will end the duplicitous “cess” raj of the Modi government to deny states their rightful share of tax revenues by introducing a law to limit Union cess and surcharges to 5 per cent of gross tax revenues.
➡️GST will not be levied on agricultural inputs.
➡️The GST Council will be re-designed. It will be the final authority on policy and on all matters relating to GST.
➡️The administration of GST laws will be divided horizontally between the central government and the state governments. Small GST-payers below a thresh old will come under the purview of the state governments.
➡️A portion of GST revenues will be allocated to pnchayats and municipalities.
➡️Shopkeepers and small retail businesses that face intense competition from online businesses will be given significant tax relief.
For the full manifesto, click here
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