The Nyay Patra,
a Revolutionary Document of Justice that Promises to Reverse the Damage!
The first general election in India was conducted in
1951-52. The election was conducted with universal adult franchise in a country
where 84% people were illiterate with no experience in electoral politics. It
was the biggest experiment in democracy in human history. No country before experimented
democracy with universal adult franchise. The US granted all its adult citizens
the right to vote only in 1965, nearly after 200 years of its independence. That was the proudest moment of independent
India. The biggest upset was the defeat of Morarji Desai and B.R. Ambedkar from
the Bombay Province that demonstrated the power of the ballot.
Now India is having the general election for the 18th
Lok Sabha (House of the People), in seven phases, from April 19 to June 1, 2024,
with a massive 970 million electorate. It
is the most decisive election that is going to determine the destiny of India –
whether India will retain the constitutional democracy or plunge into a full-fledged
doctorship, as many fear, if Narendra Modi returns to power for the third term.
So much damage is done to India during the past 10 years
of the Modi government. For instance, controlling and capturing the media; misusing
and weaponising the enforcement agencies, such as ED, CBI and IT, to intimidate and silence the political
rivals; toppling the elected opposition governments by using money power; rising
majoritarianism coupled with intolerance, hatred and violence towards those who
are critical and dissent against the policies of the government by the Hindu extreme
right wing elements; rendering parliament ineffective by expelling the opposition
members en mass and then passing the crucial bills with voice- vote
without discussion and debate, politicizing
the independent institutions and denying
them autonomy and freedom of action; and growing economic and social inequality
with the rise of a corporate oligarchy-
all this explains the damage inflicted on India by the current government.
To address these issues, the principal national opposition
party – the Indian National Congress – has announced its Manifesto, titled Nyay
Patra (document of justice), on 5 April. The Manifesto, described as
the ‘voice of the people’ and the ‘soul of India’, is based on the countless interactions
that Rahul Gandhi had with the people, cutting across communities and professionals,
during his Bharat Jodo Yatra and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, reflecting the concerns
and aspirations of the people. It is the most revolutionary document of justice
that would transform India, ushering India in social revolution. It promises to
end the ‘bulldozer justice’; to secure freedom from fear; to amend the 10th
Schedule to make defection punishable by
automatic disqualification; to enact a law incorporating the principle that the
bail is the rule, jail is the exception in all criminal laws;
to put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments,
arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody and custodial deaths .The Manifesto “promises
to ensure that the police, investigation and intelligence agencies will function
strictly in accordance with law.” It promises
to repeal laws that restrict free speech and the right to dissent and the right
to privacy.
The Nyay Patra announced the five pillars of
Nyay (justice), with a set of 5 guarantees each, that is 25 guarantees. These
are the five pillars of Nyay, in a nutshell:
Yuva Nyay: To fill 30 lakh vacant posts
in central government in order to ease the serious crisis of unemployment among
the youth; to ban contract appointments in all sectors, including education, a stipend
of Rs.1 lakh for apprenticeship of a year to degree and diploma holders below
the age of 25; one- time write off of education loans ; to set up fast-track courts to adjudicate
cases related to question paper leaks and monetary compensation to the victims; to double the allocation of budget to education
and to make education up to Class 12 free and compulsory in public schools; doubling
the funds for scholarships for OBC,SC and ST students and amend the contentious
New Education Policy, and scrapping the
Agnipath recruitment scheme.
Kisan Nyay: The Manifesto promises legal
guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for farm products; loan waiver for
farmers and GST-free agriculture.
Shramik Nyay: The minimum daily wage under
MGNREGA is raised to Rs.400.00, and also to Anganwadi workers, gig workers and
workers in unorganised sector; urban employment guarantee programme for the urban
poor; and to lift 23 crore people out of poverty so as to make India poverty
free. The Manifesto promises to raise the 50% cap on reservation for SC, ST and
OBC.
Nari Nyay: Transfer of Rs.1 lakh in a year
to women in every poor family; 50% reservation in government jobs, to appoint
more women and persons belonging to SC, ST, OBC and minorities as judges of High
Courts and Supreme Court. The Manifesto promises to provide 33% quota for women
in Parliament and State Assemblies immediately, without waiting for the census and
the delimitation, as proposed in the Women Reservation Law recently passed by
the Parliament, and to bring a law to protect women at workplaces and night
shelters.
Hissedari Nay: The Manifesto promises to
have a nation- wide socio-economic caste census. This will not only help in formulating
policies and programmes, as per the date, but also ensure justice to various
social groups or communities by accruing the benefiting of the government
welfare scheme proportionate to their number. It is a mark of social justice.
The other highlights of the Manifesto are: The Congress assures that, if voted to power,
it would investigate the demonstration, the Rafale deal, the Pegasus spyware, the electoral bonds scheme and the PM Cares Fund and also restore corruption probes against the politicians
who have managed a clear chit after joining the BJP’s ‘washing machine’. Its Manifesto declares that it will uphold the
fundamental right to practice one’s faith and rights guaranteed to religious
minorities under the Constitution and that it will not interfere with personal choices
of food and dress, to love and marry and that it will repeal all laws that unreasonably
interfere with personal freedoms. It vows
to put down with a firm hand hate speech, hate crimes and communal conflicts.
It promises to decriminalize defamation, and bring police, investigation and intelligence
agencies under the oversight of Parliament and State Assemblies. It also announced
a plan to bring the office of NSA and the National Security Council under parliamentary
oversight.
The Congress Manifesto makes another important promise of restoring the primacy of Parliament, which got severe thrashing under the Modi regime: "We promise that the two Houses of Parliament will each meet for 100 days in a year... that one day in a week will be devoted to discussing the agenda suggested by the Opposition benches in each House ... that the Presiding Officers of the two Houses will be required to severe their connection with any political party." This will make parliamentary debates complete and meaningful, ensuring independence and neutrality and impartiality of the Speaker and the Chairman of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, while discharging their duty.
The Manifesto appeals to people:
Our greatest concern was the prevailing climate of
fear, intimidation and hatred. In the last five years, every section of the people
has lived in fear; laws and investigating agencies have been weaponised to
intimidate people and through its words and actions the BJP and its affiliates have
spread hatred among people belong to different religions, languages and caste groups.
The 2024 general election presents an opportunity for radically changing the style
and substance of governance that has been in evidence in the past decade of Anyay
Kaal. We appeal to you to look beyond religion, language and caste, choose
wisely, and install a democratic government that will work for all the people
of India.
And launching the party’s Manifesto at Jaipur on 6
April, Sonia Gandhi, charged the Modi government: Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who considered himself above the nation, is tearing apart the dignity of the
country and its democracy. Today our democracy is in danger. Democratic
Institutions are being destroyed. We have never witnessed such a government that
has demolished the status of the opposition, weakened all the central agencies
through political power, and pushed the public into a sheer state of despair. This
is nothing but dictatorship. The country wants justice. Our country doesn’t
belong to a handful of people but to everyone. We have to bring the ray of hope and the ray
of justice in this dark time of this country for which our ancestors sacrificed
their lives.
The Nyay Patra is a path breaking revolutionary document of justice
that promises to reverse the damage done to India during the past ten years by
the Modi government, with justice and human dignity and inclusivity taking the center stage.
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