Congress again bets on backward classes
Nitish Kumar is suppressing the voice of the most backward classes – Rahul Gandhi
The Sunday Mail
New Delhi.
The Grand Alliance in Bihar has released the “Atibackward Justice Resolution” (Sankalp Patra) and made ten major promises for the most backward, SC, ST, and OBC classes.
The “Atibackward Justice Resolution” was released in Patna on Wednesday in the presence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, and senior leaders of the Grand Alliance. CPI (ML) MP Sudama Prasad, VIP founder Mukesh Sahni, Congress OBC Department Chairman Anil Jaihind, Bihar Congress in-charge Krishna Allavaru, Bihar Congress President Rajesh Ram, Congress Legislature Party leader Shakeel Ahmed, and several other senior leaders were also present.
The resolution promises that if the Grand Alliance forms the government, the Prevention of Atrocities Act will be passed for the most backward classes. Reservation for the Most Backward Classes in Panchayat and Municipal bodies will be increased from 20 to 30 percent. Residential landless Most Backward Class, SC, ST, and OBC families will be given three decimal places of residential land in urban areas and five decimal places in rural areas. There will be a 50 percent reservation for the Most Backward Class, SC, ST, and OBC classes in government contracts worth up to ₹25 crore. Under Article 15(5) of the Constitution, reservations will be implemented for admissions in all private educational institutions in the state. The “not found suitable” provision for appointments will be abolished. All matters related to under- or over-inclusion in the list of Most Backward Classes will be handled by a committee. A high-powered Reservation Regulatory Authority will be established to monitor reservations, and any changes to the caste reservation list will be possible only with the approval of the legislature. Under the Right to Education Act (2010) passed by the UPA government, half of the seats reserved for admission in private schools will be reserved for children from the Most Backward Classes, Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes.
Furthermore, the Grand Alliance has promised to send the legislation passed in the legislature to the central government to include it in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution to increase the reservation limit to 50 percent.
In his address, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that this document was prepared jointly by all the leaders of the Grand Alliance and will be implemented if they come to power. He sarcastically said that Nitish Kumar’s joining the BJP clearly means that he wants to implement Manuism. Those who used to talk about the principles of socialism have now fallen into the BJP’s lap. He said that having a BJP government in the country clearly means the ruination of the lives of the poor, backward classes, and Dalits.
Taking aim at the BJP, Rahul Gandhi said that caste-based protests are prohibited in Uttar Pradesh. On one hand, such thinking exists, while on the other hand, our alliance wants to provide a vision to the extremely backward communities. He said that Nitish Kumar has been in power in Bihar for 20 years, but he has not taken decisions to provide justice to the extremely backward communities. Nitish Kumar has suppressed the voices of the extremely backward communities. The Grand Alliance spoke with the extremely backward communities and prepared the Extremely Backward Justice Resolution.
Referring to the Voter Rights Yatra, Rahul Gandhi said that this yatra was meant to inform the youth of Bihar that the Constitution is being attacked across the country and citizens’ rights are being stolen. During this, he also reiterated his commitment to conducting a caste census and removing the 50 percent limit on reservations.
