Loan waiver, sedition, AFSPA, NEET — how Congress has altered since 2019
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New Delhi: Farm mortgage waiver, a evaluation of the Armed Forces Specific Powers Act (AFSPA), and the institution of new ministries — these are some of the essential promises that had been observed to be lacking from the Congress party’s 2024 election manifesto when in contrast to the one particular it launched ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The manifesto also no for a longer period mentions a dedication to uphold the character of the Aligarh Muslim College (AMU) as a minority educational institution, reflecting a shift in the party’s policy priorities.In a departure from its past stance, the Congress manifesto also does not include things like a promise to scrap the sedition regulation (Segment 124A of IPC), which was redefined in the Bharatiya Nyaya (2nd) Sanhita 2023. The Congress has in the previous alleged that the sedition regulation experienced turn into “more draconian than before” beneath the Modi government.
The Congress Friday unveiled its 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters below. The manifesto centres on ‘Paanch Nyay’ (five pillars of justice) — ‘Yuva Nyay’ for the youth, ‘Naari Nyay’ for women, ‘Kisaan Nyay’ for farmers, ‘Shramik Nyay’ for labourers, and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ for equitable share — together with a set of guarantees symbolizing the party’s commitments to the electorate.


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The 19-member manifesto committee led by P. Chidambaram had in the 2019 manifesto said the bash gave farm mortgage waivers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan quickly after forming governments in the 3 states. It cited this illustration to say that it would “waive the excellent farm loans in other states as well”.
The 2024 manifesto, on the other hand, would make no this sort of mention and rather claims an schooling personal loan waiver this time.Also, promises produced in 2019 to set up 3 new ministries — the Ministry of Market, Products and services and Employment “re-create the Ministry of Overseas Indians” and the Ministry of Fisheries and Welfare of Fisherfolk — were being also discovered to be missing.Policy shifts are apparent in the party’s strategy to Jammu & Kashmir as properly, which is established to witness the initial Lok Sabha election due to the fact the abrogation of Posting 370. For just one, the social gathering in its 2019 manifesto promised to evaluate the controversial AFSPA, which does not come across mention this time about. Yet another guarantee at the time was to lessen the existence of the Military and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the Kashmir Valley and entrust J&K Police with more responsibility — each of which were also identified to be lacking.
A third promise that was uncovered missing from the manifesto pertained to the appointment of 3 interlocutors “drawn from civil society” to discuss to civilians in J&K.The 2024 manifesto only talks about restoration of statehood for Jammu & Kashmir.The Congress party’s 2024 manifesto also signals a departure from the advertising of organic and natural farming, which experienced been highlighted in the past.Requested about some of these omissions, Praveen Chakravarthy, a member of the Congress manifesto committee informed ThePrint, “If I am not completely wrong, we say someplace in the manifesto that this need to be construed as around and what we might have stated in 2019.”
“We have a listing of guidelines beneath the reversing the harm portion, which we will possibly repeal, reenact or amend. We haven’t published that checklist,” he included.
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Modify in stand on NEET & insurance plan in wellbeing?
With regard to reservations for girls in central governing administration jobs, the Congress has promised 50 % reservation in its 2024 manifesto, up from 33 p.c promised in 2019.About the Nationwide Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and health care insurance policies, the party’s positions have advanced.
In 2019 it stated, “The NEET assessment is discriminatory against students from sure states. In addition, it interferes with the condition government’s appropriate to acknowledge pupils domiciled in the point out to health-related colleges in that point out. Therefore, we will choose steps to dispense with the NEET evaluation and substitute it with a condition-stage evaluation of an equivalent standard, permitted by the proficient authority for admission to health care faculties in that point out.”But in the 2024 manifesto, in its place of completely undertaking absent with NEET, the get together has specified an solution to states — “We will revisit the coverage of centrally-executed qualifying examinations, these kinds of as NEET, CUET, etcetera., and make it optional for point out governments to undertake these exams for admissions or perform their have exams conference the prescribed expectations to point out-funded and point out-approved larger academic institutions.”Another major shift in policy pertains to well being insurance policies.In 2019, the Congress believed “insurance-based” could not be a practical design if one have been to present common healthcare in India. This time about, it has promised nationwide implementation of “the Rajasthan model of cashless insurance up to Rs 25 lakh”.
This is in addition to the guarantee that “healthcare will be universal and cost-free in public wellness centres, these types of as hospitals, clinics, key health centres, cellular healthcare models, dispensaries and overall health camps”.
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International plan to appropriate to housing for urban weak
Even though consistent on making sure the “Right to Homestead Act” for residents of rural areas, the party has preferred to keep on being silent on the “Right to Housing for Urban Poor”. In the locations of tourism and overseas coverage, two key claims designed in 2019 were being uncovered to be lacking from the 2024 manifesto.
The Congress experienced in its 2019 manifesto promised a “law on asylum steady with worldwide treaties and conventions”, which does not discover mention this time. Similarly, to encourage tourism, the celebration had in 2019 promised that the visa-on-arrival plan would be expanded to consist of additional countries and groups of visitors. “No fee will be charged for tourist visas for a interval of 3 decades,” it added. This far too was located to be lacking from the 2024 manifesto.Its 2019 promise to uphold “the character of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia as minority academic institutions” was also found to be missing this time all-around. The make any difference is sub judice with the Supreme Court docket but to pronounce its judgement on no matter whether AMU can keep minority position below Short article 30 of the Constitution.
The party’s 2019 pledge to reintroduce and go “The Waqf Qualities (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Monthly bill, 2014” was also found to be lacking from the 2024 manifesto. Furthermore, the manifesto no extended addresses the topic of disinvestment, in stark contrast with the 2019 promise “to disinvest from non-core, non-strategic central general public sector enterprises”.(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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