New Delhi: The Congress, which has embarked on a rigorous exercise to prepare its manifesto for the 2019 general elections, will focus on providing not only programmes and policies it intends to pursue if voted to power, but also come up with a complete timeline and budget for implementing them. The party’s high-profile 22-member manifesto committee is working to infuse the manifesto with credible alternatives instead of just promises.
The directions for providing these alternatives and the timelines for implementation are being worked upon following directions from none other than Congress president Rahul Gandhi himself who got the idea during a teacher’s convention he attended late September, Prof Rajiv Gowda, head of the 22-member manifesto committee of the party, told this newspaper.
At the convention held on September 22 in the national capital, when teachers were explaining how ad-hoc appointments were ruining the careers of not only the teachers but also the students, Mr Gandhi turned and told some members of the manifesto committee who were present on the dais that not only should such issues find a place in the manifesto, but also a budget and a timeline be provided on how to deliver them.
Members of the manifesto committee, who have been holding public as well as private consultations across the country, are taking in to account this direction and speaking to a cross-section of people like economists and civil society members on how to implement them, Prof Gowda said.
The Rajya Sabha member explained how the 22-member team, which has divided itself into 20 sub-groups, is holding discussions on a myriad of issues ranging from sports, start-up operations, women’s issues, agriculture, issues pertaining to ex-servicemen and even the environment.
Prof Gowda said that at a recently-held convention on sports in Bengaluru for example, there were many innovative ideas which were discussed like lack of access to disabled people in sports facilities. All these are key issues which would be incorporated in-to our draft which we would submit to the core group. Very soon, another convention would be held in Goa on how to develop tourism.
A large number of the 50-plus conventions held so far have been on economic issues, the sub-group of which is headed by former finance minister P. Chidambaram. The recurrent themes are faulty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax, lack of availability of loans from banks and jobs.
“When we address all these issues in the manifesto, we would provide our alternatives and how to implement them,” he added.
The committee will submit the draft to the core committee by January and it will be then fine-tuned by the top leadership to be released before the polls. The party has also put up a website to outsource ideas from the people.
