Congress manifesto likely to target aspirational class

In its soon-to-be released manifesto for Elections 2014, the Congress has attempted to work in promises that will directly address the section that is transitioning from BPL (below the poverty line) status to the middle class, a group that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi highlighted in his speech at the AICC session on January 17, calling for focussing on the needs of this group of 70 crore people.

So, for instance, the draft manifesto says the Indira Awaas Yojana (housing for rural poor) and the Rajiv Gandhi Awaas Yojana (housing for urban poor) will both be universalised, with the proviso that they will operate on a policy of exclusion with a set of criteria to identify those who will not be allowed to access the two programmes.

Party sources told The Hindu that by using the exclusion policy, the 70 crores that Mr Gandhi spoke of could be included in these programmes. Giving housing as a legal right was discussed, but it was felt that it would be problematic to implement.

Similarly, given that a large section of this transitional class is in the unorganised sector, the section on manufacturing policy in the draft manifesto suggests creation of new enclaves that could become hubs of both employment and better living conditions.

With women in this transitional class frequently finding themselves vulnerable in dealing with the police, the draft manifesto suggests that 50 per cent of the police personnel, from the constable up, be drawn from women, that fast-track courts be set up in the district and State headquarters, apart from regional centres, and that a target of creating 2,000 all-women police stations within five years be set. Rights to land, the draft document says, should be given to women whose husbands have migrated to towns or other States in search of work.

Recruitment drive

The draft manifesto suggests a special drive for recruitment from the northeast and Jammu and Kashmir in the armed forces, Central departments and the Railways to address the aspirations of this class of persons from those areas of the country where there is greater alienation.