New Delhi: Farm loan waiver, a review of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA), and the establishment of new ministries — these are some of the key promises that were found to be missing from the Congress party’s 2024 election manifesto when compared to the one it released ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The manifesto also no longer mentions a commitment to uphold the character of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) as a minority educational institution, reflecting a shift in the party’s policy priorities.
In a departure from its previous stance, the Congress manifesto also does not include a promise to scrap the sedition law (Section 124A of IPC), which was redefined in the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita 2023. The Congress has in the past alleged that the sedition law had become “more draconian than before” under the Modi government.
The Congress Friday unveiled its 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) headquarters here. 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 — alongside a set of guarantees representing the party’s commitments to the electorate.
The 19-member manifesto committee led by P. Chidambaram had in the 2019 manifesto said the party gave farm loan waivers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan immediately after forming governments in the three states. It cited this example to say that it would “waive the outstanding farm loans in other states as well”.
The 2024 manifesto, however, makes no such mention and instead promises an education loan waiver this time.
Moreover, promises made in 2019 to establish three new ministries — the Ministry of Industry, Services and Employment; “re-establish the Ministry of Overseas Indians”; and the Ministry of Fisheries and Welfare of Fisherfolk — were also found to be missing.
Policy shifts are evident in the party’s approach to Jammu & Kashmir as well, which is set to witness the first Lok Sabha election since the abrogation of Article 370.
For one, the party in its 2019 manifesto promised to review the controversial AFSPA, which does not find mention this time around. Another promise at the time was to reduce the presence of the Army and Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) in the Kashmir Valley and entrust J&K Police with more responsibility — both of which were also found to be missing.
A third promise that was found missing from the manifesto pertained to the appointment of three interlocutors “drawn from civil society” to talk 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 promotion of organic farming, which had been highlighted in the past.
Asked about some of these omissions, Praveen Chakravarthy, a member of the Congress manifesto committee told ThePrint, “If I am not wrong, we say somewhere in the manifesto that this should be construed as over and what we may have said in 2019.”
“We have a list of laws under the reversing the damage section, which we will either repeal, reenact or amend. We haven’t published that list,” he added.
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Change in stand on NEET & insurance in health?
With regard to reservations for women in central government jobs, the Congress has promised 50 percent reservation in its 2024 manifesto, up from 33 percent promised in 2019.
Regarding the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and healthcare insurance, the party’s positions have evolved.
In 2019 it said, “The NEET examination is discriminatory against students from certain states. In addition, it interferes with the state government’s right to admit students domiciled in the state to medical colleges in that state. Hence, we will take measures to dispense with the NEET examination and substitute it with a state-level examination of an equivalent standard, approved by the competent authority for admission to medical colleges in that state.”
But in the 2024 manifesto, instead of completely doing away with NEET, the party has given an option to states — “We will revisit the policy of centrally-conducted qualifying examinations, such as NEET, CUET, etc., and make it optional for state governments to adopt these examinations for admissions or conduct their own examinations meeting the prescribed standards to state-funded and state-approved higher educational institutions.”
Another major shift in policy pertains to health insurance.
In 2019, the Congress believed “insurance-based” could not be a viable model if one were to provide universal healthcare in India. This time around, it has promised nationwide implementation of “the Rajasthan model of cashless insurance up to Rs 25 lakh”.
This is in addition to the promise 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”.
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Foreign policy to right to housing for urban poor
Though consistent on ensuring the “Right to Homestead Act” for residents of rural areas, the party has chosen to remain silent on the “Right to Housing for Urban Poor”.
In the areas of tourism and foreign policy, two major promises made in 2019 were found to be missing from the 2024 manifesto.
The Congress had in its 2019 manifesto promised a “law on asylum consistent with international treaties and conventions”, which does not find mention this time.
Similarly, to promote tourism, the party had in 2019 promised that the visa-on-arrival scheme would be expanded to include more countries and categories of visitors. “No fee will be charged for tourist visas for a period of three years,” it added.
This too was found to be missing from the 2024 manifesto.
Its 2019 promise to uphold “the character of Aligarh Muslim University and Jamia Millia Islamia as minority educational institutions” was also found to be missing this time around. The matter is sub judice with the Supreme Court yet to pronounce its judgement on whether AMU can retain minority status under Article 30 of the Constitution.
The party’s 2019 pledge to reintroduce and pass “The Waqf Properties (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Bill, 2014” was also found to be missing from the 2024 manifesto.
Furthermore, the manifesto no longer addresses the topic of disinvestment, in stark contrast with the 2019 promise “to disinvest from non-core, non-strategic central public sector enterprises”.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)
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