Congress says committed to 33 pc reservation in legislatures, Parliament for women

PTI, Feb 27, 2023, 9:22 AM IST

The Congress has said it is committed to 33 per cent reservation for women in legislatures and Parliament, promising that it would strive to pass the legislation — ensuring that it is an ”inclusive reservation” — to see young women from the backward, Dalit and tribal communities are elected.

In its youth, education and employment resolution adopted at the 85th plenary session here, the Congress said sexual violence also takes communal and casteist shades.

”The cruelly raped Bilkis Bano is still fighting for justice and the young Dalit women raped and murdered in Kathua, Unnao, Hathras and in other places are fighting the arduous battle for justice and to smash the impunity our society offers to people who indulge in sexual violence on minority and oppressed women,” the party resolution said.

While the Congress is committed to building a progressive, safe society by empowering women, the RSS ”objectifies and disempowers women”, the resolution alleged.

The Congress believes in an equal future for women. It is committed to the creation of equal opportunities for women in education and employment and their socio-political-economic empowerment, it said.

The resolution said the Congress will ensure that prevention of sexual harassment committees are formed in all workplaces.

The party asserted that it is committed to the 33 per cent reservation in legislatures and Parliament for women and tabled the bill when the UPA government was in power.

”We will strive to pass the bill seeking 33 per cent reservation while ensuring that this is an inclusive reservation which will see our young women from the Backward, Dalit and Tribal communities reaching legislatures and Parliament to take our nation forward,” the resolution said.

The Congress resolves to realise the vision of gender equity and ensure justice for all sections of the society, it said.

In the resolution, the party said it believes in the political empowerment of the youth, right from the panchayat level to Parliament.

”Ensuring internal democracy within the Indian Youth Congress and National Student Union of India were effective steps taken in this direction under the guidance of our leader, Rahul Gandhi,” it said.

”We strongly believe that it is imperative that the Udaipur Declaration be implemented in word and spirit. We recognise that 50 under 50 was a revolutionary concept for the Congress organisation that must be implemented across all party positions from booth level to the Congress Working Committee,” the party said.

Similarly, keeping a five-year term for all the positions is also important to give a chance to newer people in the organisation, it added.

The Congress also alleged that the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 is trying to reduce the entire education to that of literacy, numeracy, and skilling, and aims to weaken the public education system.

It claimed that the NEP is a roadmap for establishing a ”mono cultural nation”.

”Every feature of NEP 2020 aims to demolish the basic structure of the Constitution, particularly federalism and social justice,” it said.

In its resolution, the Congress also expressed deep concern over the ”rampant” rise in unemployment.

The Modi government’s recent decision to launch the Agniveer scheme has snatched opportunities to serve the nation from the hands of millions of Indian youths, the party alleged.

”We demand that the Army revert to previous recruitment schemes where permanent jobs can be provided to youth eager to serve the nation,” the resolution said.