Congress Manifesto Promises Caste Census, to Scrap Agnipath Scheme, Bring GST 2.0

New Delhi: The Indian National Congress on Friday released its manifesto called “Nyay Patra” for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, promising to focus on unemployment, scrap the Agnipath scheme, conduct a countrywide caste census, abolish the contractualisation of regular jobs in the government and public sector enterprises, among others.

The manifesto was released by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in the president of former party president Sonia Gandhi, former finance minister P Chidambaram and party leader Rahul Gandhi.

The key highlights of the manifesto, that comes amid “growing inequalities”, “a climate of fear and hatred” and an “economy in crisis”, “threat to democracy” are:

- A promise to pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.

- Reservation of 10% in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) for all castes and communities without discrimination.

- End the evil of manual scavenging and rehabilitate, re-skill, provide a job and assured a life of dignity and safety to every manual scavenger.

 -Ensure settlement of all pending FRA claims within 1 year and establish a process for review of all rejected claims within 6 months.

-Enact the Rohith Vemula Act to address discrimination faced by students belonging to the backward and oppressed communities in educational institutions.

-Hike pension for widows, disabled and senior citizens; restore rail, road travel concessions

-Bring a law to recognise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.

-The Rajasthan Model of cashless insurance up to25 lakhs will be adopted for universal healthcare

-Guarantee a new 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 below the age of 25. Apprentices will get 1 lakh a year.

-Abolish application fees for government examinations and government posts.

-Will amend the RTE Act to make education from Class I to Class XII in public schools compulsory and free.

-Launch a Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfe.r

-Reserve one-half (50%) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025.

-Give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices announced by the government every year, as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission

-Will increase the wage under MGNREGA to Rs 400 per day.

-Urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure

-A national minimum wage of Rs 400/day.

-Restore the Planning Commission.

-Enact a law on bail that will incorporate the principle that ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ in all criminal laws

-Will defend independent journalism by enacting laws to protect journalists from coercive action by the State

-Will establish a National Judicial Commission in consultation with the Supreme Court.

-Replace the GST laws enacted by the BJP/NDA government with GST 2.0.

-End duplicitous “cess” raj of the BJP/NDA government to deny states their rightful share of tax revenues, and introduce a law to limit Union cess and surcharges to 5% of gross tax revenues.

 The 45-page manifesto ends with Tagore’s poem “Where the mind is without fear..” and appeals to the people to “repose faith in the Congress” and vote for it.

“The ten years of the BJP/NDA government have been marked by exaggeration and publicity rather than substance and performance. The economy has registered less-than-satisfactory growth. Widespread unemployment, high inflation and falling consumption have debilitated even this modest growth…. Inequalities have widened. Every section of the people lives in fear,” it says.