On social and economic restructuring, is the Congress manifesto so radical as to be unworkable? Or is it too timorous, not going far enough fast enough and all just window dressing?
It could be a little bit of both. Here are some thoughts:
1. The party has called for a new commission to analyse affirmative action for Other Backward Class (OBC) meant for those castes which have not got the full benefit of reservation.
In simple English, what the party is saying is: we gave reservation to Jats, but smaller castes in the OBC category like Mallah should not fear: they will get benefits as well. Mallah, Kevat, Nishad, are only a few among OBCs who come right at the bottom of the OBC social hierarchy.
Because Jats and yadavs, the more assertive OBC castes, corner all the benefits from reservation, the others only get crumbs. And yet, they are politically very influential.
This promise may not translate into any immediate electoral benefit for the Congress, but in northern states, it will have a longterm implications for social engineering.
2. The Congress has committed itself to reserving at least 25% of recruitment in the police force for women in the next five years. Why didn’t they think of this 10 years earlier? There are some obvious drawbacks: subinspectors and constables are recruited by the state government. But, if implemented, this will mean a sea change in the way the police is structured and the way it works.
3. The party has called for protection to members of the transgender sex and is committed to enacting a law to ensure consensual same-sex relations are not criminalised. Conservative Hindus, Muslims and Christians will all take umbrage at this, but this is quite radical.
4. Consider the number of commissions the party is thinking of setting up at least eight are mentioned in the manifesto): A National Commission for Students, a body that will promote and protect the interests of students; a comission for other OBC castes, a National Youth Commission, a National Panchayati Raj Commission, a National Commission for ex Servicemen, a Commission to ‘explore the possibility of bringing all Labour Laws under one comprehensive law’ a ‘regulatory reform task force’ for a review of all regulatory processes of central government ministries, a National Environmental Appraisal and Monitoring Authority… These are just a few.
So are we looking at a Group of Ministers regime being replaced by a Commissions regime if the UPA comes to power? And will the ministries and departments (like the Department for Ex servicemen) which are tasked with administering these groups be abolished? That is what would be radical, but the manifesto doesn’t say that. So presumably these are jobs for retired or retiring Congressmen and/or bureaucrats…
5.The party will implement ALL the recommendations of the Administrative Reforms Commission: the tomes written by Veerappa Moily. This makes for a lot of reading for those who are interesting in exploring the new governance trajectories India will take.
