 "Senior leaders of India's main opposition Congress Party Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, along with Mallikarjun Kharge, President of the Congress Party, display the party's manifesto for the general election (Photo: REUTERS)")
In a manifesto focussed on youth, women, and farmers, the Congress on Friday promised to create a huge number of employment opportunities by filling 3 million vacancies in government jobs and creating another 15 million in the mining sector by doubling its share to 5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
It promised to provide the right to apprenticeship to the youth, reform the production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, introduce employment-linked incentive (ELI) scheme, launch an urban employment programme for the poor, increase the share of manufacturing to 20 per cent of GDP, and double the economy in 10 years.
In its 46-page manifesto for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, the party focused on five “pillars of justice” and 25 guarantees under them. The guarantees included introducing a law on minimum support price for farmers and Rs 1 lakh to women heads of poor families a year.
The Congress has opted to omit its promise of restoring the old pension scheme (OPS) from the manifesto ahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Congress leader P Chidambaram, who headed the party’s manifesto drafting committee, said it is premature for the party to take a stand on the issue at the current juncture when the Centre has set up a committee headed by the finance secretary to find a way.
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The manifesto, released at the AICC headquarters on Friday in the presence of Chidambaram, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, also talked about introducing goods and services tax (GST) 2.0 and the direct taxes code. It also promised to junk the Agnipath scheme for the armed forces launched by the Modi government, if the party comes to power at the Centre.
Chidambaram said the focus was its “Nav Sankalp Economic Policy” to create jobs and wealth, which can only be achieved by the 7.5 per cent economic growth that the 10 years of the UPA government delivered. Rahul said the electoral battle was to protect the Constitution and democracy. The manifesto committed to checking oligopolies, monopolies, and crony capitalism.
Praveen Chakravarty, a key member of the Congress’ manifesto drafting committee, said the right to apprenticeship will supersede many of the other programmes and hence, the cost to the exchequer from promises, such as raising wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to Rs 400 a worker per day, launching urban employment scheme for the poor would not be as high.
Praveen Chakravarty, a key member of the Congress’ manifesto drafting committee, said the right to apprenticeship will supersede many of the other programmes and hence, the cost to the exchequer from promises, such as raising wages under Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act to Rs 400 a worker per day, launching urban employment scheme for the poor would not be as high.
Under the proposed Right to Apprenticeship Act, the Congress guarantees a one-year apprenticeship with a private or a public sector company to every diploma holder or college graduate below the age of 25. The apprentices will get Rs 1 lakh a year.
Chakravarty said the cost of the scheme would be shared between the government and the employer concerned. The burden to the exchequer would be around Rs 10,000-15,000 crore a year. This would cut the demand for work under the proposed urban employment scheme and MGNREGA and as such the cost of these two schemes would not be high.
The fiscal cost of the promise of providing Rs 1 lakh to women heads of poor households would depend on the definition of poverty. This would be known once the social and economic census is conducted, he said. In 2019, the Congress had promised Rs 72,000 a year to the poorest 20 per cent families, with the money to be deposited to the accounts of women heads of these households.
The promise of writing off pending repayment of education loans as on March 15 this year, including unpaid interest, would have a fiscal hit of Rs 15,000 crore, Chakravarty said.
On federalism, the manifesto promises transferring some fields in the Concurrent List of the Constitution to the State List, ending the “cess” raj of the Centre and limiting Union cess and surcharges to 5 per cent of gross tax revenue. It has proposed that the Finance Commission take into account factors, such as demographic performance and tax efforts, while determining the devolution of central tax revenues.
Alleging that the share of manufacturing dropped during the NDA governments, including the Atal Bihari Vajpayee regime, while it had risen in the two stints of the UPA rule, he said the Congress would take the share of the factory output to 20 per cent of GDP from the current 14 per cent.
To a query that experts, such as former Reserve Bank governor Raghuram Rajan, suggested India to focus on services rather than manufacturing to drive growth, the Congress leader said it is important for the country to manufacture and produce goods to drive GDP and create employment.
The manifesto also talked about launching a strategic mining programme to explore and mine rare earth and critical minerals with the objective of increasing the share of mining to 5 per cent of GDP and creating 15 million jobs for unskilled and skilled workers in the mineral-rich states.
Alleging that the Narendra Modi government failed to double the economy in its 10-year rule which the earlier Congress and the coalition governments had done, the manifesto promised to double the size of the economy in 10 years. Chakravarty said the real GDP growth rate should average double digits a year in a decade which is quite possible.
Promising GST 2.0, the manifesto talked about a single, moderate rate with a few exceptions that will not burden the poor. It also promised to not impose GST on agricultural inputs. The manifesto talked about horizontally dividing the GST administration between the Centre and the state governments. Small GST players below a threshold will come under the purview of the state governments, it said.
Chakravarty said the stand of the Congress is clear regarding not bringing petroleum, part of electricity, and real estate under GST.
He said the proposed DTC would aim to have continuity and consistency in personal income tax and corporation tax instead of doing back and forth by the NDA government. The manifesto talked about eliminating the angel and all other “exploitative” tax schemes that inhibit investment in new micro, small companies and innovative startups.
The party will also restructure the Fund of Funds Scheme for startups and allocate 50 per cent of the available fund as far as possible equally among all districts, for providing funds to youth below 40 years of age to start their own businesses and generate employment.
The party also talked about reviewing and reforming labour codes, passed by Parliament but yet to be introduced. It promised to set up an authority to monitor distribution of government land and surplus land under the land ceiling Acts to the poor, and abolish the contractualisation of regular jobs in government and public sector enterprises. The Congress said it will bring a law to recognise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Rahul said the BJP under PM Modi has monopolised political funding, and alleged that it was a “rigged cricket match” and even the social media platforms were controlled. “It is not a normal election,” he said, adding that it was a much closer election than propagated, likening it to the 2004 ‘India Shining’ election.
POLL PROMISES
> 50% quota for women in govt jobs
> Regulatory regime for ports and airports to promote competition
> Transfer some subjects from Concurrent List to State List
> End “cess” raj, law to limit Union surcharges at 5%
> Probe demonetisation, the Rafale deal, Pegasus spyware and electoral bonds scheme
> Amend election laws, introduce VVPAT slip tally with EVMs
> Scrap Agnipath scheme
> Automatic disqualification if an MP/MLA leaves their original party
> Removing 50% cap on SCs, STs, OBCs quota
> Nationwide caste Census
> Law to recognise civil unions of LGBTQIA+ couples
