Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi always
stressed for the need of ensuring adequate empowerment for women. And, this is
going to be one of the important topics to be taken up in the Jaipur Chinta
Shivir of the party.
The summit is likely to discuss revive efforts to pass a law
that reserves seats for women in the Lok Sabha and state assemblies. The
legislation was passed by the Rajya Sabha in March 2010, but is yet to be
passed by the Lok Sabha. The Congress knows that the focus on women issues, the
Direct Benefits Transfer (DBT) scheme, and the Food Security Bill could revive
the morale of party workers and also the party’s electoral fortunes. Congress
may alsol adopt a slogan to indicate this approach: “Pehle hoga naari samman,
baad mein hoga Bharat nirman (Respect for women first, nation building will
follow)”.
The slogan of the Congress party in 2004—“Congress ka haath,
aam aadmi ke saath.” (The hand of the Congress is with the common man; the hand
happens to be the party’s symbol) was
very catchy. The slogan was used to hard-sell inclusiveness, the platform for
its surprise return to power in 2004 and more recently with “Aapka paisa, aapke
haath (Your money in your hand)” to propagate the direct cash transfer scheme.
Reportedly, the discussion in Jaipur will have a special
session on empowering women, apart from the usual themes of political
challenges, socio-economic policies, international affairs and organizational
matters.
The policies benefiting the aam aadmi has given Congress an
upper hand. The schemes like Mahatma Gandhi NREGA, and the loan waiver scheme for
the farmers helped the party to retain power in 2009.
Sonia Gandhi has been pushing for the Women Reservation Bill
to be passed. The Congress-led UPA’s policy of DBT to transfer subsidies and
other benefits under government-run welfare schemes directly to the bank
accounts of the beneficiaries is a good step forward. The scheme, which has
been initiated in 20 districts, will be extended to 18 states from April and in
other parts of the country by 2014.
Women alone may not be the focus of the Congress. Because of
the efforts of Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi, the Jaipur session will
witness for the first time a large number of younger members participating in
discussions and putting forward suggestions for improving the organization and
the party’s electoral prospects. In recognition of the youth demographic and
their increasing interest in policy making, as evidenced by the recent public
protests over corruption and women’s safety, the three-day meet will end with a
one-day session that will have 118 participants from the Youth Congress and the
party’s student wing.
The Chintan Shivir will be attended by Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, members of the council of ministers, Congress working committee
members, Congress legislative party chiefs and state unit presidents among the
345 invitees.
Congress leaders are also hoping the government will be able
to pass the legislation on food security before the 2014 election. The Food
Security Bill, which promises to provide subsidized food to the poor, and a pet
project of Sonia Gandhi, is also likely to be discussed. The Congress president
Sonia Gandhi was very upset that it is still pending.
