Rahul Gandhi’s minimum income announcement has jolted the government. Even if it is merely a political announcement during the poll season and we will have to see its repercussions as well as how it is implemented but that comes later. The political announcements need to be critiqued either by the politicians or discussed by the economists but what is happening is that government bringing NEETI AYOG vice chair person Rajiv Kumar into picture who has no business to comment on a political announcement. Arun Jaitley has already done it and after his surgery, he is working extra hard to prove his relevance in the party. He will remain as long as he manages things and media but now there are other managers too.

I am not fond of MNREGA which Rahul Gandhi speak so proudly. His party failed it. Fact of the matter is that BJP ruled government used it best for their purposes. The Minimum Income Scheme too has to be seen in light of this. While it is good that at the moment, when the entire debate was on Hindustan-Pakistan or Hindu-Musalman, deshbhakt and deshdrohis, atleast, Rahul Gandhi’s announcement has changed that and we hope it will continue to remain on the issue of governance but I will say with conviction that such announcement will not resolve India’s crisis. We know Congress’s brand managers who do these kind of things but shutting down many schemes and joining many together.

We need not merely Congress Party but all other parties who claim to strengthen social justice, civil liberties and democracy in our country to speak clearly on the following :

  1. Strengthen Forest Rights Act and get it implemented. Place it in schedule IX so that it cant be challenged in the courts.


  3. Will the Central government or Congress Party speak of Land Reforms and fair implementation of Land Ceiling Laws. We need land to redistributed fairly and it is not possible if those holding huge land in their charitable trusts, gaushalas, temples, mutths, and other religious institutions can be allowed to take shelter circumventing the law. Bring all of them under the Land Ceiling Law. Tax the religious charities and use the funds for improving the lives of the poor.


  5. National Education Policy which must clarify a clear agenda that government will strengthen the infrastructure and curriculum and other framework be developed by an autonomous body of academics. Education must be strengthening scientific temperament, compassion, spirit of togetherness and freethinking.

  6. National Health Services. The biggest casualty post 1990 is the health services. Strengthen Primary Health Centers and Community Health Centre. Learn from National Health Services in UK and not from the corporate model of the United States based on insurance claims which will not work in India. All the states must have credible health services without much paper work and people should have access to them in the easiest way.

  7. Social Inclusion : India’s problems are not merely economical. They are prejudices based on caste and religion. How will you ensure our institutions have enough representation of people from diverse sections of society particularly those from the marginalised sections as well as religious minorities.

  8. National Judicial Services : If our judiciary remain the domain of a few families of the twice born then dont expect too much from it in terms of justice for the marginalised or understanding their issues.

  9. It is time to make stringent guidelines for media. In the name of free media the corporate control your ‘freedom’ and produce filth and garbage in the name of ‘freedom’. Spreading hatred, division and intimidating dissenters on their prime time shows must stop. Media must be made accountable and government advertisements and support should only be given to those whose newsrooms have shown diversity of caste, religion and regions. Media must reflect India and idea of India and cannot be a whipcord of the dominant caste groups to hijack political agenda and deny justice to the marginalised. Investigate the reason of growth behind religious channels and who allowed them to report on political issues. They got their licence in the name of being spiritual channel but now being used freely to spread hatred and create division. It must be stopped.

  10. The civil society has faced not merely discrimination, intimidation but also defamation. Will the political parties respect the need of powerful civil society and other autonomous organisations, institutions which can do critique of government policies in greater public interest. How will you ensure their freedom and autonomy if you have powerful laws to squeeze them of their resources. How long will you put a gun of FCRA on civil society organisations when you have done away with every law for the corporate. Let the Income Tax laws and other laws deal with them.

  11. Fight against corruption is important but how do you fight is the big question. We need specific laws to reduce the political corruption and for that we must make a law that nobody can be a minister or prime minister, chief minister beyond two terms. Important to ensure that all the facilities provided to corporate at the cost of state must be withdrawn and efforts should be made to get back the Bank money being held by the corporate in the name of NPAs.

  12. Political parties should start practicing things at their own domain areas. Let the parties follow the principle of proportionality in all their positions to ensure gender, caste, religious and ethnic diversity in their power structure at every level before enacting a bill. Without preparing for a thing, we can not force-feed things and it will be just an eyewash.

  13. Bring a Hate Crime Law and ensure corrupt officials and political leaders are taken to task if their role is found out in any of the communal disturbances or caste violence.


I am sure there are many more issues which people have been raising but our main concern is to bring idea of India which has been hurt during all these years because the parties swearing to social justice, secularism and socialism have not been committed to these principles in reality. If our laws and polity remain the domain of powerful hegemonic elite then we cant expect democracy to flourish here in true spirit but will remain enslaved to cronies of the corporate masquerading as ‘politicians’ and ‘parties’.

Vidya Bhushan Rawat is a social activist

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