Congress releases 'Nyay Patra' manifesto for 2024 LS polls | Read key promises

• Congress releases manifesto for 2024 Lok Sabha elections, calls it ‘Nyay Patra’
• Promises to fill nearly 30 lakh central government vacancies and conduct a nationwide caste census
• Commits to reserving 50% of central government jobs for women, abolishing application fees for govt exams 

The Congress on Friday released its manifesto or 'Nyay Patra’ for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi. Top leaders of the Congress, including party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and former party presidents Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, released the poll manifesto, days before the general elections.

In its manifesto, the Congress focused on Paanch Nyay or or ’five pillars of justice', including ‘Yuva Nyay’, ‘Naari Nyay’, ‘Kisaan Nyay’, ‘Shramik Nyay’ and ‘Hissedari Nyay’ as well as the guarantees made by it to the people as part of its election promises for Lok Sabha polls.

Here are the some of the key promises from the Congress Manifesto:

1. The Congress said it will fill nearly 30 lakh vacancies in sanctioned posts at various levels in central government.
2. Conduct a nationwide socio-economic and caste Census to enumerate the castes and sub-castes and their socio-economic conditions and it will pass a constitutional amendment to raise the 50 per cent cap on reservations for SC, ST and OBC.
3. Make a law to recognise civil unions between couples belonging to the LGBTQIA+ community.
4. Reservation of one-half (50 per cent) of central government jobs for women starting in 2025
5. Launch Mahalakshmi scheme to provide ₹1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer
6. Adoption of the Rajasthan model of cashless insurance of up to ₹25 lakh for universal healthcare
7. As part of efforts to alleviate the burden of unemployment, the Congress aims to abolish application fees for government examinations and posts. Additionally, the party promises a one-time relief measure by writing off the outstanding amounts, including unpaid interest as of March 15, 2024, for all student educational loans. The banks will be compensated by the government for this initiative.