Congress Manifesto pledges removal of 50 pc reservation cap, Caste Census, legal MSP guarantee

The Congress party has unveiled its election manifesto, pledging a range of reforms and initiatives across various sectors if elected to power. The manifesto includes promises to amend the Constitution to raise the cap on reservations for SC, ST, and OBCs, conduct a nationwide caste census, and amend the Tenth Schedule to curb defections. The party has also committed to implementing “10% reservation in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) for all castes and communities without discrimination,” ensuring economic empowerment of minorities, and providing freedom of choice in “dress, food, language and personal laws.”

In the education sector, the Congress has promised to “fill all the backlog vacancies in posts reserved for SC, ST and OBC within a period of one year,” enact a law to provide for reservation in private educational institutions for SC, ST and OBC, and “abolish application fees for government examinations and government posts” for unemployed youth. The manifesto also includes plans for sports scholarships, a separate legislation for sports federations, and recognition of civil unions for all couples.

For farmers, the Congress has pledged to “give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP) announced by the government every year,” as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission, and provide relief for student educational loans. In a significant move for women empowerment, the party has promised to “reserve one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025,” launch the Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer, and ensure one-third reservation for women in state assemblies and the Lok Sabha.

The Congress has also proposed electoral reforms to combine the efficiency of electronic voting machines (EVMs) with the transparency of ballot papers. The party has committed to “double the country’s GDP in the next 10 years,” replace the current GST laws with GST 2.0 based on a single moderate rate, and guarantee the Right to Apprenticeship Act. On foreign policy, the Congress aims to “fix its relations with the Maldives” and work to restore the border status quo with China, among other measures.