vote for congress

VOTE CONGRESS

2009-04-03T12:46:00.000-07:00

"The Congress is unique. Our uniqueness arises from several basic features of the Congress's history, its character, its ideology and the legacy of its leadership. I am convinced that the time is ripe for a massive renaissance of our political culture so that we build that society which combines compassion with competence, equity with excellence."

Smt. Sonia Gandhi
Jai Ho!

The UPA government claims it had taken action on "almost all 142 items" of significance in the Common Minimum Programme (CMP), its agenda of governance. The CMP's chief focus was on employment, agriculture, health, education, women and children, national security, foreign policy, food, Panchayati Raj, social harmony, minorities, water resources, regional development, among others.

Its most notable achievement includes inflation control and maintaining a tight regulatory environment which prevented domestic institutions from falling prey to global financial woes.

Rising crude and global commodity prices saw inflation bordering around 12%. But a number of policy measures ensured that prices remain under control and the aam aadmi does not suffer.

A number of subsidies announced last year helped keep prices of food, fertiliser, and petroleum low. "The consequences of that in a normal year might have been rather unpleasant but this hasn’t been a normal year."

The CMP promised an increase in investment for agriculture, which has been in the throes of a crisis. The government promised that immediate steps would be taken to ease the burden of debt and high interest rates on farm loans. In last year's Budget, the government announced a Rs 60,000 crore loan waiver scheme.

The UPA's CMP included a National Employment Guarantee Act to provide at least 100 days of employment for at least one able-bodied person in every rural, urban, poor, and middle-class household. The Act is now functional across India.

It also pledged to raise public spending in education to at least 6% of GDP with at least half this amount being spent on primary and secondary sectors. This was its stance on education. At last count, the UPA government's investment in education stood at 3.5% of GDP.

RAHUL GANDHI

2009-04-03T12:42:00.001-07:00

It is my understanding that this House may not find the time to discuss Demands for Grants for Human Resource Development. Therefore, Sir, I have taken the liberty to focus on education in the general debate.

Today, India is emerging as a global power. We are poised to grow at 8 percent. This achievement is built on the dreams of millions of people. It is built on the dreams of our leaders. It is built on the dreams of our teachers. But most importantly, it is built on the aspirations of our students.

Equally, we owe our success to our toiling masses, to our farmers and workers. I salute them. But it is not enough to salute them. We must work for an India where a son does not remain tied to his father's past, where a daughter has the opportunity to do something her mother could only dream of Education is the key to achieving this.

Sir, as I travel around the country, I have come to realise that education is not about schools, colleges or universities. It is about dreams and aspirations. A successful education system must do two things. It must allow all young Indians to dream, and it must teach them the skills to turn those dreams into reality.

About a year ago I visited a village school. I walked up to one of the children and asked him, "Beta bade hokar kya bano ge?" The silent stare I got in reply disturbed me. In school after school, I have asked this question and got no answer. Many students, teachers and parents believe that our school system is a dead-end. In village after village, there are children who don't have the opportunity to go to school. Many parents are convinced only the rich can go to university. As I speak, Sir, our education system is crushing the aspirations of these children.

But I have also visited schools where every child aspires to greatness; schools that struggle against adversity and keep dreams alive. There are village schools where the same system which destroys aspirations elsewhere makes the child of a landless labourer dream of becoming a software engineer. I have been moved by children in a school for the blind who spoke to me about their dreams. There are IIT graduates who run billion-dollar companies. As. I speak, our education system is fuelling the aspirations of these people.

Why do we have this paradox? This must be addressed.

As a government, we must inspire our children to dream. To do this we need to focus on two big ideas. First, we must ensure that our education system reaches as many students as possible. Second, we must improve the quality of our education system by increasing accountability.

The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and the Midday Meal Scheme attack the first problem. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan helps young children, including girls, who otherwise might not get an education. The Midday Meal Scheme, the largest such program in the world, allows poor parents to send their children to school.

Since it came to power, the UPA Government under the leadership of our Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, has more than tripled the money for both programs. Over the last two years, these programs have reduced out-of-school children by 39 lakhs. This is nothing short of a revolution. I am confident that the basic foundation of our rural and urban poor shall be enriched beyond our expectations. Mr. Speaker Sir, the importance that this government gives to education in U.P. and Bihar is reflected in the fact that 50% of the total money goes to these two states alone. The real impact of this program needs to be made in the villages of U.P. and Bihar.

We have made progress in primary education. But according to estimates, only 39% of children go to secondary school and only 6% of our children actually go to college. The government, NGOs and the private sector must work together to change this. Secondary and higher education must become widely available to all our children and must provide options for vocational and technical training.

Sir, government statistics show that in same Northern states, on average, a child takes over 10 years to complete primary school.

I am not questioning the ability of our students. What I am talking about is the quality and accountability of our schools. This lack of quality is particularly harmful because it discriminates against poor children. A rich student has alternatives. For a poor student a bad school is the end of the road.

I am new to politics and still have a lot to learn. But if there is one thing I have learnt it is that people who are closer to a problem understand it best. Empower them. Make them accountable and you will get results.

Community institutions can play a powerful role in-improving the quality of local schools. Teacher absenteeism and poor performance are major problems. Handing decision-making to parents and communities directly affected by the problem, is our best bet at solving it. There is enough evidence from our own country to support this.

As we emerge as a global power, our higher education and vocational training can no longer function in a vacuum. Two years ago, I visited a university in a Northeastern state. I met a university topper who was unemployed! Now here is an exceptional person. A person who has followed the path laid out for him perfectly. After 15 years of hard work he discovers that our system has led him nowhere. It has crushed his dreams.

Sir, we cannot afford to judge universities and vocational training institutes simply by the number of degrees they give out. We must also start judging them by the number and quality of jobs that their students get.

To give people productive employment, education needs to be connected to the job market. Our education system has to deepen its links with industry, with research & development, with technology and with finance. It is only by building these links that we will move from creating job seekers to entrepreneurs.

Sir, the fact is that in order to increase the scale and quality of our education system we need financial resources. For this, we have to think in innovative ways.

The UPA Government has more than doubled spending on education. The Prarambhik Shiksha Kosh, to which Rs. 8,746 crores is being added in 2006-07, is a significant step forward.

The "Statement on Revenue Foregone" points out that a figure of Rs. 158 thousand crores has been foregone by the government as a result of "departures from the normal tax regime." Mentioning this figure, for the first time, is a positive step. It would be very helpful, if the Government could elaborate on how it intends to act on this information. This is important because even if we are able to reduce revenue foregone by 15%, it will raise enough money to double our country's allocation for education.

Finally the development of India as a global educational hub could be a new way of expanding our higher education system. Today we are recognised as leaders in higher education. The United States and the United Kingdom together earn over Rs. 50,000 crores from Asian students studying there. This is more than twice our entire educational budget per year. Can we not try to capture some of this revenue to supplement and grow our higher education system? Nalanda and Vikramashila were the Harvard and Cambridge of their day. Why can't we revive this tradition?

But I do want to stress that whatever we do, no Indian girl or boy should be deprived of higher education because they cannot afford it. This is the primary responsibility of the government.

Mr. Speaker Sir, every human endeavour starts with an aspiration, a dream, a belief.

Sir, we stand in this House as representatives of the people of India. We do so, because we believe in our people. We believe in our future.

It is the responsibility of all of us to ensure that every child dreams, and that every child has the skills to turn those dreams into reality. Let us ensure that every child is able to answer the question "Bade hokar kya bano ge?"

Thank you, Mr. Speaker, for this opportunity to put forward my views.

manmohan singh

2009-04-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

Dr. Manmohan Singh

Singh`s image is of a formidable intellectual, a political leader of integrity (a prevalent public perception denounces most national bureaucracies as corrupt and tainted), someone who is compassionate and attentive to common people, and as a recognised technocrat. Although legislative achievements have been few and the Congress-led alliance is routinely hampered by conflicts, Singh`s administration has focused on reducing the fiscal deficit, providing debt-relief to poor farmers, extending social programs and advancing the pro-industry economic and tax policies that have launched the country on a major economic expansion course. Singh has been the image of the Congress campaign to defuse religious tensions and conflicts and bolster political support from minorities like Muslims and Christians.

The Prime Minister`s foreign policy has been to continue the new peace process with Pakistan initiated by his predecessor, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Exchange visits by top leaders from both countries have highlighted this year, as has reduced terrorism and increased prosperity in the state of Kashmir. The peace process has also been used by the government to build stronger relations with the United States, China and European nations.

Dr. Singh is known as a bold leader. He made it clear in his address to Parliament in 2006 regarding his Nuclear Deal with US. He said he believed in taking India to new heights. Energy scarcity is hampering progress of the country. The speech gave signal of a new Manmohan Singh, who compelled his fellow parliamentarians to take a step forward for India`s sake. He reminded them of the fears and anxities that existe d when he announced reforms in the early 1990s. Finally, the whole parliament, including the leftists, gave him support on the nuclear issue.

India’s Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh is rightly acclaimed as a thinker and a scholar. He is well regarded for his diligence and his academic approach to work, as well as his accessibility and his unassuming demeanour.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was born on September 26, 1932, in a village in the Punjab province of undivided India. Dr. Singh completed his Matriculation examinations from the Punjab University in 1948. His academic career took him from Punjab to the University of Cambridge, UK, where he earned a First Class Honours degree in Economics in 1957. Dr. Singh followed this with a D. Phil in Economics from Nuffield College at Oxford University in 1962. His book, “India's Export Trends and Prospects for Self-Sustained Growth” [Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1964] was an early critique of India's inward-oriented trade policy.

Dr. Singh’s academic credentials were burnished by the years he spent on the faculty of Punjab University and the prestigious Delhi School of Economics. He had a brief stint at the UNCTAD Secretariat as well, during these years. This presaged a subsequent appointment as Secretary General of the South Commission in Geneva between 1987 and 1990.

In 1971, Dr. Singh joined the Government of India as Economic Advisor in the Commerce Ministry. This was soon followed by his appointment as Chief Economic Advisor in the Ministry of Finance in 1972. Among the many Governmental positions that Dr. Singh has occupied are Secretary in the Ministry of Finance; Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission; Governor of the Reserve Bank of India; Advisor of the Prime Minister; and Chairman of the University Grants Commission.

In what was to become the turning point in the economic history of independent India, Dr. Singh spent five years between 1991 and 1996 as India’s Finance Minister. His role in ushering in a comprehensive policy of economic reforms is now recognized worldwide. In the popular view of those years in India, that period is inextricably associated with the persona of Dr. Singh.

Among the many awards and honours conferred upon Dr. Singh in his public career, the most prominent are India’s second highest civilian honour, the Padma Vibhushan (1987); the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award of the Indian Science Congress (1995); the Asia Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993 and 1994); the Euro Money Award for Finance Minister of the Year (1993), the Adam Smith Prize of the University of Cambridge (1956); and the Wright's Prize for Distinguished Performance at St. John's College in Cambridge (1955). Dr. Singh has also been honoured by a number of other associations including the Japanese Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Dr. Singh is a recipient of honorary degrees from many universities including the Universities of Cambridge and Oxford.

Dr. Singh has represented India at many international conferences and in several international organizations. He has led Indian Delegations to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Cyprus (1993) and to the World Conference on Human Rights in Vienna in 1993.

In his political career, Dr. Singh has been a Member of India’s Upper House of Parliament (the Rajya Sabha) since 1991, where he was Leader of the Opposition between 1998 and 2004.

Dr. Singh and his wife Mrs. Gursharan Kaur have three daughters.

MANIFESTO Of the Indian National Congress

2009-04-03T12:20:00.000-07:00

Lok Sabha Elections 2009
MANIFESTO
Of the Indian National Congress

The Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh released the party's manifesto in New Delhi on Tuesday. The manifesto lists some promises with special focus on Dalits and tribal communities.

Reiterating its National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme, the Congress has promised 100 days of work for Rs 100 a day, as an entitlement under the NREGA.

The Congress has also promised to enact a Right to Food law that guarantees food for all. It has announced that every family living below the poverty line will be entitled to 25 kg of rice or wheat per month at Rs 3 per kg. The manifesto promises subsidised community kitchens, which will be set up in all cities for homeless people and migrants, with the support of the central government.

In the health sector, the Congress has declared that every family living below the poverty line will be covered by the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana over the next three years.

The Congress manifesto Highlights:

** 25 kg wheat or rice for Rs.3 per kg

** Maximum possible security to each and every citizen

** Highest level of defence preparedness and also take further steps for the welfare of the defence forces and their families

** Acceleration in the process of police reforms

** To take the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme forward

** Enactment of a National Food Security Act

** Health security for all under Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana

** Comprehensive social security to those at special risk

** Implementation of a nation-wide skill development programme

** Expand schemes for improving well-being of farmers and their families

** Democratised and professionalised functioning of cooperatives

** Greater impetus to the empowerment of weaker sections of society.

** Elected panchayat institutions to be made financially strong

** Connect all villages to a broadband network in three years time

** Give special focus to the small entrepreneur and to small and medium enterprises

** Maintain the path of high growth with fiscal prudence and low inflation

** Introduce the goods and services tax from April 1, 2010.

** A completely new look to urban governance

** A new deal to our youth to participate in governance

** Protection of India’s natural environment and steps to rejuvenate it

** A massive renewal of science and technology infrastructure

** To pursue judicial reforms to cut delays in courts

** To continue to be sensitive to regional aspirations

** Energy security for the country

** To pursue an independent, pro-India foreign policy

** To intensify the involvement of overseas Indians in development

SONIA GANDHI

2009-04-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Sonia Gandhi is the President of the Indian National Congress Party. She is also the Chairperson of the Coordinating Committee of the ruling coalition, the United Progressive Alliance.

Mrs. Gandhi nee Maino, was born in Italy on December 9, 1946. After her early education, she attended a foreign language school where she studied English, French and Russian. She met Rajiv Gandhi in Cambridge where she was doing an English language course. They were married in New Delhi in 1968. She has a son, Rahul, a daughter, Priyanka, and two grandchildren.

Mrs. Gandhi spent most of her married life largely as a private citizen looking after her family. She was a companion to her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi, during many of her official duties and frequently acted as her hostess. During the years 1984 to 1991 when her husband was Prime Minister and then briefly leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, she assumed a limited public role, mostly accompanying him on his tours in the country and abroad. At the same time, she looked after his parliamentary constituency, Amethi, in the state of Uttar Pradesh, concentrating on health-care camps and other welfare activities.

After the assassination of her husband in May 1991, she set up the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, a non-governmental organization, and its associated think-tank, the Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies. As Chairperson of these, she kept herself occupied in their activities which commemorate her husband’s legacy. She also heads a number of other NGOs.

Shortly before the Lok Sabha elections in 1998, in response to widespread demands from Congress Party rank and file, she entered public life. She campaigned vigorously on behalf of the party and became the President of the Indian National Congress Party in April 1998.

Mrs. Gandhi was first elected a Member of Parliament from the Amethi parliamentary constituency in 1999, following which she became Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. In the 2004 General Elections, she led the electoral campaign of her Party which secured the largest number of seats. This enabled the Congress Party to form a coalition government [UPA]. In this election, she was elected as a Member of Parliament from Rae Bareily in Uttar Pradesh.

The Congress Party unanimously elected her as its leader in Parliament, and she was therefore expected to be sworn in as Prime Minister. However, she declined to accept the position and nominated Dr. Manmohan Singh to lead the coalition government. Apart from being the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, she is the leader of the Congress Party in Parliament.

She was also the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council (NAC) till May 2006, a forum that made periodic recommendations to the government in areas of socio-economic importance. Among the initiatives that have resulted in official action were NAC’s recommendations relating to the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, the Right to Information Act, the National Rural Health Mission, the Mid-Day Meal Scheme, the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission and the National Rehabilitation Policy.

She is particularly interested in issues related to the environment, empowerment of the disadvantaged, especially women, and the welfare of children.

Mrs. Gandhi has authored two books on her husband, Rajiv and Rajiv’s World, and has edited two volumes of letters exchanged between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi between 1922 and 1964, entitled Freedom’s Daughter and Two Alone, Two Together.

Her other interests include reading Indian contemporary, classical and tribal art, Indian handlooms and handicrafts and, both folk and classical music. She has a diploma in conservation of oil paintings from the National Museum in New Delhi.

Achievement

2009-04-03T12:16:00.001-07:00

Our accomplishments in office have been solid and substantial. They speak for themselves. They have given the people of our country a new hope, a new pride, a new sense of trust in the administration.

Creating the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and extending it to all districts is historic. This programme is improving the lives of the poorest sections of our society.

The Right to Information Act has made administration at all levels transparent and more accountable. It has enabled the participation of a very large number of citizens in the processes of governance.

The national mid-day meal scheme in all primary schools of the country has given lakhs upon lakhs of under-privileged children better nourishment and health. It has made school-going more attractive.

Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalayas are giving our children a new future.

The national rural health mission is ensuring that adequate health facilities are more accessible in remote and rural areas.

All states have received unprecedented funding from our government for development activities and schemes. Unlike the NDA, the Congress-led UPA government has not discriminated against any state. Non-Congress governments have been misleading the public by claiming the Centre’s programmes as their very own. It is here that all of you have a special obligation to make the people aware that we are responsible for these programmes.

Our farmers are the backbone of our country. Under Indiraji’s inspired leadership, they were the khidmatgars of the Green Revolution. The massive loan waiver scheme, the reduction in interest rates, the huge expansion in irrigation and the hefty increase in procurement prices have made their lives and those of their families more secure.

Over 90% of our countrymen and women work in the unorganised sector. They do not have the benefit of trade unions or labour laws. For the very first time, we have legislated social security, in the form of life and health insurance and old age pensions. Programmes like the aam admi bima yojana and the Indira Gandhi National Old Age Pension Scheme have begun to make a difference in their lives.

SAY NO TO L.K ADVANI

2009-04-03T12:16:00.000-07:00

Kandhar episode
Shekhar Gupta: You were not consulted on this?
Advani: I don't know about it.
Shekhar Gupta: So when did you get to know he went on the plane?
Advani: I came to know when he was going.
(Ref. http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=NEWEN20080044709&ch=3/22/2008%209:22:00%20PM)

As a home minister Advani was not part of Cabinet committee on security?What is he trying to prove?

LK Advani part of Kandahar decision, says IB sleuth
(Ref.http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1494690.cms)

Advani was part of the Decision: Jaswant Singh
(Ref. hindu.com/2008/05/12/stories/2008051260091400.htm)

Does India really deserves a Prime Minister whose performance as home minister was so miserable that even
his colleagues didn't allow him to b a part of a major security decision .