The Congress president, Mrs
Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the party's
manifesto in New Delhi on Tuesday. The manifesto lists some promises
with special focus on minorities, Dalits and tribal communities.
Reiterating its National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, the
Congress has promised 100 days of work for Rs 100 a day, as an
entitlement under the NREGA.
The Congress has also promised to enact a Right to Food law that
guarantees food for all. It has announced that every family living below
the poverty line will be entitled to 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at
Rs 3 per kg. The manifesto promises subsidised community kitchens, which
will be set up in all cities for homeless people and migrants, with the
support of the central government.
In the health sector, the Congress has declared that every family
living below the poverty line will be covered by the Rashtriya Swasthya
Bima Yojana over the next three years.
The party has promised comprehensive social security cover for the
disabled, the elderly, urban homeless, released bonded labourers,
members of primitive tribal groups and members of the most backward
Dalit communities.
In an attempt to woo the minority community, the Congress plans to
implement reservation for minorities, on the basis of social and
economic backwardness, in government jobs and educational institutions.
The party has promised to set up an Equal Opportunity Commission to
ensure that the Sachar Commission's recommendations are implemented and
the minorities are not deprived in any manner.
The party has reiterated the contentious promise of implementing 33 per
cent reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures, which
it had failed to do in the last five years, due to stiff opposition by
some of its allies. The Congress even promises to reserve one third of
all central government jobs for women.
The Congress has promised free education -- from primary till the
university level -- for students from Dalit and tribal communities.
Continuing its incentives for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe
communities, the party has pledged to pay the tuition fees for all
entrance exams for at least one lakh SC and ST students every year, in
addition to increasing the national scholarships for such students.
To reiterate the party's commitment towards pursuing affirmative
action, the Congress has promised to implement reservations in the
private sector for the economically weaker sections of all communities,
without prejudice to the existing reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs.
To check communal and caste-related violence, the Congress has proposed
a law that empowers the National Human Rights Commission to monitor
investigation and trial in all such cases. Declaring a zero tolerance
policy towards terrorism, the Congress has pledged to equip the police
and other special security forces with the latest weapons and technology
to counter terrorist threats. More specialist battalions will be raised
and positioned in key locations across the country, says the manifesto.
The party has focused on its core areas of concern which include
farmers, women, the socially deprived and the weaker sections. Through
its wide range of promises, the Congress is trying to project a
government which will work on inclusive growth, encompassing all
sections of the society.
Download Congress
manifesto 2009
