Cong releases poll manifesto, promises Rs 25 lakh health insurance
*To abolish Agnipath Scheme, hike MGNREGA wages to Rs 400
Gopal Sharma
JAMMU, Apr 5: Congress Party today said it will restore full Statehood to the Jammu and Kashmir, amend Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to include the tribal areas of Ladakh, provide up to Rs 25 lakh cashless health insurance cover and scrap Agnipath Scheme if the party comes to power after this Parliamentary elections.
AICC president, Mallikarjun Kharge made these announcements while releasing his party manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at Congress headquarters in the Union capital, focusing on five “pillars of justice” and 25 guarantees under them, in the presence of former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.
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In the 45-page document titled ‘Nyaye Patra’, featuring pictures of Kharge and Rahul and Bharat Jodo Yatras, the AICC chief said, “ We will immediately restore full Statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. We will also amend the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution to include the tribal areas of Ladakh.”
He said the Party would abolish the ‘Agnipath Scheme’ of recruitment in Army and direct the Armed forces to resume normal recruitment to achieve full sanctioned strength.
“We will increase the wage under MGNREGA to Rs 400 per day. MGNREGA funds and workers may also be deployed to build public assets such as classrooms, libraries and primary health centres,” the party chief said.
The party will give legal guarantee to Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the Government every year as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, Kharge added.
In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress promised that healthcare will be universal and free in public health centres such as hospitals, clinics, primary health centres, mobile healthcare units, dispensaries and health camps.
“Free healthcare will include examination, diagnostics, treatment, surgery, medicines, rehabilitation and palliative care,” the party said.
The party promised that if it comes to power, it will adopt the previous Ashok Gehlot Government’s ‘Rajasthan model’ of cashless insurance of up to Rs 25 lakh for universal healthcare.
Kharge said party would implement 10 per cent quota in jobs, educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) for all castes, communities without discrimination.
Besides promising full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, Congress also claimed it will give special status to Andhra Pradesh, full statehood to Puducherry, and amend the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi Act, 1991, to declare that Lt Governor shall act on the aid and advice of Council of Ministers of NCT, Delhi.
The party further promised to fill nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in the Central Government.
AICC chief said Congress will pass a Constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC if it comes to power. He said party will conduct a nationwide socio-economic and caste census ensuring equitable distribution among all sections as per their population.
“The party will review all laws that interfere with the right to privacy and make suitable amendments to various laws to uphold the right to privacy,” he added.
Rejecting the ‘one nation, one election’ idea, the Congress promised that elections to the Lok Sabha and the state assemblies be held as and when they are due in accordance with the Constitution and the traditions of a Parliamentary democracy.
It also promised to restore the voters’ trust in the election process by amending election laws and ensure that VVPAT slips tallied with EVMs.
The Congress chief said it will review the new education policy brought by NDA. It also promised to enact a law on bail that will incorporate the principle that ‘bail is the rule, jail is the exception’ in all criminal laws. He further promised to introduce comprehensive prison reforms.
“The 2024 general election presents an opportunity for radically changing the style and substance of governance that has been in evidence in the past decade of `Anyay Kaal’. We appeal to you to look beyond religion, language and caste, choose wisely, and install a democratic government that will work for all the people of India,” the Congress chief said.
Kharge said party guarantees a new ‘right to apprenticeship act’ to provide one-year apprenticeship to every diploma holder or graduate below age of 25, under which apprentices will get Rs one lakh a year.
He also promised to provide financial assistance of Rs one lakh cash transfer to a woman of poor households under the ‘Mahalakshmi Scheme’.
“We will reserve one-half (50 per cent) of Central Government jobs for women starting in 2025,” he said.
He said party will launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for urban poor in reconstruction, renewal of urban infrastructure.
“In last 10 years the BJP has done tremendous damage by misusing the brute majority enjoyed by it in Parliament to make laws that violated the letter and spirit of the Constitution of India as well as the fundamental principles of law-making, namely, necessity, consultation, reasonableness and proportionality, he added.
“We promise that all anti-people laws passed by the BJP/NDA without proper Parliamentary scrutiny and debate, especially those relating to workers, farmers, criminal justice, environment and forests and digital data protection, will be thoroughly reviewed and changed,” the AICC chief claimed.
“We will carry out complete investigations of the Electoral Bonds Scam, the reckless sale of public assets, the PM CARES scam, repeated intelligence failures at the highest levels and corruption in major defence deals,” Kharge said.
“I urge everyone to have a close look at our manifesto and you will see a beautiful picture of our country in it,” Kharge said.
AICC chief also wondered what kind of level playing field is there when the principal opposition party’s accounts have been frozen.
Rahul Gandhi said this Lok Sabha election is a fight between forces who are trying to “destroy” the Constitution and democracy in the country and those protecting them.
He said it is a much closer contest than propagated by the media, and expressed confidence of winning the polls.
“We do believe that it is very important once this fight is won that we look after the interests of the vast majority of our people,” he said, claiming that this is not a nation that will be run by 2-3 people and neither by monopolies.
Asked about who will be the Prime Ministerial face, Gandhi said, “INDIA bloc has decided that we are together fighting an ideological election. After winning the election, who will be the leader, the PM, the whole coalition will jointly decide.”
Manifesto Committee chairperson and senior party leader P Chidambaram said the primary concern of all and what the country needs is “jobs, jobs, jobs”.
AICC general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal said the party will take its manifesto to the grassroots level and will hold public rallies in Jaipur on Saturday and Hyderabad in the evening, where top leaders would address.
Alleging that the BJP has turned out to be a “giant washing machine”, the Congress vowed that the allegations against those who had cases registered against them but were allowed to escape the law after they joined the BJP would be “revived and investigated”.
In its manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress said that if it comes to power, it will probe demonetisation, Rafale deal, Pegasus spyware usage, and the electoral bonds scheme and bring those who made “illegal gains” through these measures to justice.
The party alleged that in the last 10 years, several measures taken by the BJP-led NDA Government were actually a “cloak for corruption”.
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