Takeaways from Congress manifesto: Big push for jobs, quotas, doles; focus on youth, women, marginalised

The Congress has also stated that it will, if voted to power, bring a law to recognise civil union between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.

Here are the key takeaways from the manifesto.

Social justice

The Congress, especially its senior leader Rahul Gandhi, has already made the demand for a nationwide caste census the centrepiece of the party’s campaign, hoping to regain the party’s backward class support base. The manifesto reiterates the promise but adds that the party will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservation for the SCs, STs and OBCs, implement the 10% quota in jobs and education for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) for all castes and communities without discrimination, fill up backlog vacancies in reserved posts within one year and double the funds for scholarships for the SC, ST and OBC students, especially for higher education.

Besides, the party promised to enact a law with reference to Article 15(5) of the Constitution to provide for reservation in private educational institutions for the SCs, STs and OBCs, another law named after Rohith Vemula to address discrimination faced by students belonging to the oppressed and backward communities in educational institutions, and pledged to establish a Diversity Commission that will measure, monitor and promote diversity in public and private employment and education.

It promised to appoint more women and persons belonging to the SC, ST, OBC and minority communities as judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court.

Unemployment

The Congress has been fiercely critical of the Narendra Modi government’s record on job creation. The party hopes unemployment will emerge as one of the key electoral issues, focusing hugely on the creation of jobs. Its promises in this regard include enactment of a 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 under the age of 25 with a stipend of Rs one lakh a year. The party has also pledged to set up fast-track courts to adjudicate cases related to question paper leaks and provide monetary compensation to the victims.

Besides, the Congress has promised to fill the nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the central government, restructure the Fund of Funds Scheme for start-ups and allocate 50% of the available fund among all districts, for providing funds to youth below 40 years of age to start their own businesses and generate employment. It has promised to abolish application fees for government examinations and posts.

Among the party’s other significant promises is to launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of infrastructure, increase the wage under MGNREGA to Rs 400 per day and fix the same amount as the national minimum wage, and enact a law to specify and protect the rights of gig and unorganised workers and enhance their social security.

The Congress has promised to reform the production-linked incentive scheme and introduce a new employment-linked incentive (ELI) scheme for corporates to win tax credits for additional hiring against regular, quality jobs.

Women

The other focus area of the manifesto is women welfare. The Congress believes its cash dole promises for women had helped it win the Assembly elections in Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana in the recent past. The manifesto promises to launch a scheme, called Mahalakshmi, to provide Rs 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. The amount will be directly transferred to the bank account of the oldest woman of the household. It also promises to implement 33% reservation for women in Parliament and Assemblies immediately and reserve 50% of central government jobs for women beginning 2025.

Institutional overhaul & administrative steps

The Congress has often accused the BJP government of hollowing out constitutional institutions and clamping down on freedom of expression. The manifesto makes several promises including decriminalising the offence of defamation and provide, by law, a speedy remedy by way of civil damages and assurance to end the arbitrary and indiscriminate suspension of the Internet.

The party said it will review the Telecommunications Act, 2023 and remove the provisions that restrict freedom of speech and violate the right to privacy.

Significantly, the Congress has also promised to ensure that the police, investigation and intelligence agencies will function strictly in accordance with law. “They will be brought under the oversight of Parliament or the state legislatures, as the case may be. We promise to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice. We promise to enact a law on bail that will incorporate the principle that ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ in all criminal laws,” the manifesto states.

The entire Opposition has been up in arms against the government over the arrest of several senior Opposition leaders on charges of corruption.

Silences, tweaks

After pitching for the Old Pension Scheme (OPS) for government employees, making it a part of its plank in the Assembly polls, and actually reverting to it in states where it came to power, the Congress manifesto steers clear of the OPS promise in its manifesto.

The Congress had also demanded a return to paper ballot. In 2018, the party had passed a resolution at its AICC session seeking a return to the paper ballot system. But the manifesto is silent on that count too. Instead, it promises to amend the election laws to combine the efficiency of the electronic voting machine (EVM) and the transparency of the ballot paper.

“Voting will be through the EVM but the voter will be able to hold and deposit the machine-generated voting slip into the voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) unit. The electronic vote tally will be matched against the VVPAT slip tally,” it says.

The manifesto has promised removal of the Angel Tax, first introduced by the UPA government in 2012-13, and passage of a law to cap collection of cess as a percentage of tax revenues. Cess has for long been a bone of contention between the Centre and the states since the amount thus collected is allegedly not shared with states and used solely by the Union government.

“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,” it says.

Other major promises

The Congress has promised to abolish the Agnipath scheme.

“We will immediately restore full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. We will amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to include the tribal areas of Ladakh,” the manifesto says.

The party has pledged to expand Article 15 and 16 to prohibit discrimination on grounds of “disability”, “impairment” or “sexual orientation”.

Hit by defections of a large number of its MLAs and MPs, resulting in the collapse of its governments in some states like Madhya Pradesh and Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress has said it will amend the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution and make defection (leaving the original party on which the MLA or MP was elected) an automatic disqualification of the membership in the Assembly or Parliament.

The party has promised to establish a National Judicial Commission (NJC) in consultation with the Supreme Court and the Chief Justices of the High Courts. “The composition of the NJC will be decided in consultation with the Supreme Court. The NJC will be responsible for the selection and appointment of judges of the High Courts and the Supreme Court,” the manifesto says.

The party has promised to establish a Judicial Complaints Commission consisting of retired judges of the Supreme Court and retired Chief Justices of the High Courts to investigate complaints of misconduct against judges of the higher judiciary.

The Congress has also pledged to replace the GST laws and put in place a new regime which will be based on the universally accepted principle that GST shall be a single, moderate rate with a few exceptions. The party proposes to redesign the GST Council, making it the final authority on policy and all GST-related matters.