Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said the grand old party, if voted to power, will implement the Scheduled Caste Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan, introduced by Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and abolished by the Modi government in 2014.
“Congress gives legal guarantees for implementation of the SC-ST Sub Plan. As much as the SC/ST population, so much is the budget! The Special Component Plan and Tribal Sub-Plan for Scheduled Castes, introduced by Indira Gandhi in the 1970s to ensure a balanced and adequate share of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the budgetary resources, were abolished by the Modi government in 2014,” Kharge said in a post.’X’.
“Congress guarantees to revive the Scheduled Caste Plan and the Tribal Sub-Plan and implement it by law,” he added.
Kharge further said the Congress, for the last seven decades, has been raising its voice for the rights of the backward, deprived and exploited sections of society and all castes.
Asserting that the country will be strong only when its foundation is strong, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also said that the grand old party aims to ensure the participation of tribals in the building of modern India.
“The aim of the Congress is not only to protect water, forests and land but also to ensure the participation of tribals in the building of modern India. These 6 resolutions of ours dedicated to the tribal society will become a shield for the rights of the tribals by preventing the plunder of resources. The country will become strong only when the foundation is strong,” Gandhi said.
Rahul Gandhi and his party has been demanding a nationwide caste census with a ‘Jitni Abadi, Utna Haq’ slogan.
TDP, a BJP ally in Andhra Pradesh, has also promised to conduct a caste census.