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May 2, 2024Same Old Slogans and Appeasement Politics in Congress Manifesto
The Indian National Congress Party recently released its 48-page manifesto, titled “Nyay Patra,” for the general elections of 2024. As we examine the manifesto, it’s apparent that the party has adhered to traditional formats reminiscent of past manifestos. The Nyay Patra is a mix of old rhetoric and questionable policy directions that raise serious concerns.
The manifesto’s overarching theme seems rooted in the party’s traditional approach to governance, prioritising welfare schemes over robust economic growth strategies and development-driven governance. While the intention to uplift the socio-economically disadvantaged is noble, the reliance on handouts and appeasement politics may not address the root causes of poverty and inequality. There is room for a broader perspective that encompasses not just wealth distribution but also strategies for wealth creation and equitable growth.
Instead of focusing on institutional reforms to strengthen the nation’s governance framework, the manifesto appears to propagate a divide-and-rule mentality, emphasising identity-based politics rather than inclusive nation-building. This is evident in the party’s insistence on long-standing minority appeasement policies, which risk perpetuating social divisions rather than fostering genuine integration. (Refer to pages of 4, 6, 7, and 11 of the Congress Manifesto-2024 on Equity, Religious, and Linguistic Minorities).
Furthermore, the manifesto’s lack of emphasis on economic reforms and job creation reflects a worrying disconnect from the realities of the global economy. The proposal to create three million government jobs without addressing the need for a conducive environment for private sector growth is shortsighted and could exacerbate fiscal pressures.
The manifesto’s failure to address the dynamics of Indian labour markets, particularly in sectors like rural-based agriculture, allied activities, and urban development, is a glaring oversight. Southern and Western states, which are relatively more developed, already face a significant shortage of semi-skilled and skilled manpower across sectors. Moreover, historical evidence highlights the adverse effects of artificial wage increases under schemes like MGNREGA, contributing to inflationary pressures. Despite these well-documented challenges, the Congress Party’s manifesto fails to learn from past failures, reflecting a lack of foresight and concrete developmental focuses.
Additionally, the manifesto overlooks emerging challenges such as technological disruption and the need for digital infrastructure development. Amidst a dynamic technological revolution reshaping social and economic landscapes, the Congress Party’s manifesto appears disconnected from emerging realities. The traditional social stigma of caste dominance, which is gradually fading, remains unaddressed on the party’s agenda. The market process has the potential to mitigate caste-based disparities by ensuring equitable access to essential services and opportunities, yet the manifesto fails to recognise this transformative potential.
Furthermore, the party’s oversight of emerging growth centres and the pressing need for world-class social and economic infrastructure underscore a lack of vision for rural-urban transformations. However, this aspect seems overlooked in the party’s agenda.
While some initiatives outlined in the manifesto, such as enhancing institutional credit to SC and ST for home-building, starting businesses, and purchasing assets, providing sports scholarships of Rs 10,000 per month for talented and budding sportspersons, and introducing reforms in industrial and labour laws, deserve recognition, they are overshadowed by the overall lack of vision and strategic direction.
Moreover, it is crucial for the manifesto to outline concrete strategies for key areas such as constitutional reforms, judiciary strengthening, anti-corruption measures, and environmental protection. Emphasising national security, including measures to counter terrorism, should also be a priority. Lip service paid to these concerns without concrete action plans undermines the credibility of the document and the party’s commitment to effective governance.
It’s worth noting that the Congress Party’s manifesto reflects an activist approach rather than embodying the maturity expected of a longstanding political party’s document. While the manifesto outlines several initiatives, some of its proposals, which are listed below, raise concerns:
| 2024 Congress Manifesto Promises | Consequences |
| Caste Census | In 21st-century India, the caste census is not the first principle for empowering the different communities. Unlike in the past, today we have many better ways of empowering the underprivileged communities in India through more decentralization, community participation, and blended technological use in the delivery of services and facilities. We must learn from history how we must not use poor people with caste tags as the only tool to woo them for anything but for vote sake. |
| To raise the 50% cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC | The rise of reservation caps cannot be the only solution but better quality of education and facilitating productive employment opportunities are actual empowerment for communities. |
| Reservation of 10% in jobs and educational institutions for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be implemented for all castes and communities without discrimination | This is a very vague promise. Stating “all castes and communities without discrimination” does not make any sense. Without improvements in the quality of education affirmative action measures will not achieve the desired goals even after a few decades. |
| Reservation in private educational institutions for SC, ST, and OBC | This is a very dangerous promise that will destroy the freedom of enterprises and economic freedom that we have unleashed after the 1991 reforms. Whatever the quality of education is found in the private educational institutions will be faced with grave situations for undermining the quality. |
| Public Procurement Policy will be expanded to award more public works contracts to contractors belonging to the SC and ST communities. | This has not helped the targeted communities for decades. From these same communities, there are enterprises that are supplying goods and services to world-class projects with high quality and innovations in the products. |
| Economic empowerment of minorities is a necessary step for India to realise its full potential | Without improving the quality of education to the communities including minorities, the promise of economic empowerment will not be feasible. |
| The Rajasthan Model of cashless insurance up to Rs. 25 lakhs will be adopted for universal healthcare. | This promise for entire country coverage would not be feasible given the fiscal constraints faced already. However, the promise can be targeted at the needy people like the elderly population and those who are out of any social security coverage which are most deserving and must be protected. |
| Congress guarantees a new Right to Apprenticeship Act. Apprentices will get Rs. 1 lakh a year. | This rights-based approach does not make sense if the implementation is not done properly with the coordination of the stakeholders concerned. The outright dole of Rs.1 lakh will find its own leakages in the middleman in the delivery system. |
| All student educational loans will be written off and the banks will be compensated by the government. | This promise will discourage those who are paying the loan dutifully. However, the targeted implementation for extreme cases would be logical and meaningful. |
| We will amend the RTE Act to make education from Class I to Class XII in public schools compulsory and free. | The idea of compulsory and free education does not guarantee an improvement in the quality of education, improvement in learning abilities, etc. |
| Collateral-free education loans up to Rs. 7.5 lakhs, especially to students belonging to the SC, ST, OBC, EWS and minorities. | Without specifically targeted, the promise will go in vain and cost heavily the exchequer with compounding effects. |
| We will provide free and unlimited Internet on college and school campuses to increase accessibility and connectivity. | This promise creates complications in schools and college education wherein students are already facing issues with too much attention to cell phones and internet connections instead of actual academic studies. This is not quite demanded by all the institutions in the country. |
| Mahalakshmi scheme to provide Rs. 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. | According to Congress, there are 22 crore poor people in the country. They give Rs. 1lakh to each family for the next five years; it would cost the government of Rs.22 lakh crore for one year. Where are the resources to fund this promise? Have they ever thought about it? |
| Congress will give a legal guarantee to the Minimum Support Prices (MSP). | The promise to give legal guarantees is a political gimmick for the elections as far as the Congress is concerned. They are run out of innovative ideas. |
| We will increase the wage under MGNREGA to Rs. 400 per day. | This promise will cause more hardships in the farming sector in India which is already facing a shortage of labourers, especially in South and Western India. Also, it will distort the market wages in the farm labour sector and will impact negatively. |
| We will launch an urban employment programme guaranteeing work for the urban poor in the reconstruction and renewal of urban infrastructure. | This kind of scheme was tried in states like Tamil Nadu and was utterly failed. This promise will also distort the urban labour market which is already facing labour shortages for several sectors in India. |
| The Congress guarantees a national minimum wage of Rs. 400 per day. | The promise to give a national minimum wage is a political gimmick for the elections as far as the Congress is concerned. They are run out of innovative ideas. |
| Congress will replace the GST laws enacted by the BJP/NDA government with GST 2.0. | This promise will create more negative sentiments among businesses and new-age entrepreneurs. However, further simplifications should be done to help the MSMEs in the country. Outright replacement will be a dangerous idea because the foundation paved for the last few years would go to waste and create much confusion. |
| We will review the distribution of legislative fields in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution and build a consensus on transferring some fields from List III (Concurrent List) to List II (State List). | This promise will make the wrong trend-setting for future governments to create more firefighting between state governments and union governments for more such subjects shifting. |
In essence, while the Congress Party’s manifesto contains elements worthy of consideration, it raises questions regarding the comprehensiveness of its vision and implementation strategies. A more balanced approach that prioritises economic growth, institutional reforms, and inclusive development are essential to addressing the multifaceted challenges facing the nation.
Views expressed by the author are personal and need not reflect or represent the views of the Centre for Public Policy Research.
Chandrasekaran Balakrishnan is Research Fellow (Urban Eco-system and Skill Development) with CPPR. His areas of research interest are economics of education, vocational education and skills development, economic reforms, liberal vision for India, water management, regional development, and city development. Chandrasekaran has an MA in Economics (University of Madras) and an MPhil in Social Sciences (Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya University, Indore).
