Manifesto of Congress comes with timeline

New Delhi: The Congress, which has embarked on a rigorous exercise to prepare its manifesto for the 2019 general elections, will focus on providing not only programmes and policies it intends to pursue if voted to power, but also come up with a complete timeline and budget for implementing them. 

The party’s high-profile 22-member manifesto committee is working to infuse the manifesto with credible alternatives instead of just promises. 

The directions for providing these alternatives and the timelines for implementation are being worked upon following directions from none other than Congress president Rahul Gandhi himself who got the idea during a teacher’s convention he attended late September, Prof Rajiv Gowda, head of the 22-member manifesto committee of the party, told this newspaper. 

At the convention held on September 22 in the national capital, when teachers were explaining how ad-hoc appointments were ruining the careers of not only the teachers but also the students, Mr Gandhi turned and told some members of the manifesto committee who were present on the dais that not only should such issues find a place in the manifesto, but also a budget and a timeline be provided on how to deliver them.

Members of the manifesto committee, who have been holding public as well as private consultations across the country, are taking in to account this direction and speaking to a cross-section of people like economists and civil society members on how to implement them, Prof Gowda said.