The Lok Sabha 2019 general elections are finally here. Political parties have started their campaigning for wooing the voters. Our mainstream news channels have also turned their debates towards elections. Yet, the interesting part of these polls remains the promises made by the political parties to attract the voters.
Recently, the president of the Congress, Rahul Gandhi, released the party’s election manifesto. In it, they promised to waive-off outstanding interests on old education loans, prior to March 31, 2019. “We will revive, redesign and expand the education loan programme. No interest will be charged during the period of study and until the student finds a job or earns through self- employment. Outstanding interest dues on old education loans will be waived,” the Congress party promised.
In addition to this step towards waiving of education loans, the Congress, in its manifesto, has also promised to scrap the National Entrance Eligibility Test (NEET) conducted for admission to undergraduate medical programmes. “It interferes with the State government’s right to admit students domiciled in the State to medical colleges in that state. Hence, we will take measures to dispense with the NEET examination,” the document read.
The party also vowed to ensure free and compulsory education to all in government schools from class 1 to 12. Also, it advocated for raising the budget on education to 6% of the GDP.
One of the main things in the manifesto of the Congress party is that it is primarily focused on education. It may be an election strategy but it has wooed voters. It will also further attract the voters, especially of the younger generation. The manifesto also seemed to focus on the concerns of the middle-class people. It is a welcome step as far as students are concerned.
All political parties from the opposition need to come up with solutions for issues that the ruling government has mostly ignored. As an example, the ruling BJP government does not have a proper policy for the country’s education. It has seemed to derail from real issues like education, women reservation, employment, health, finance, etc. That’s exactly what has allowed the Congress to come up with a manifesto that focuses on education and its aspects. The party’s manifesto also suggests that it will raise the budget of education if voted to power. The question of their occupation of power, although, still remains.
This step to waive off education loans of the students is also a good step because a lot of students from economically weaker financial backgrounds take education loans from the banks to pursue their education. This suggests that students from marginalized communities are overwhelmed to study and that’s why they take loans. This promise might be a positive step in the student community that faces similar restrictions of money for pursuing their education. If this step is viewed positively, we can say that a lot more students will benefit. Additionally, since a lot of students with outstanding loans belong to middle-class and poorer families, such a move also helps the party score points within this electorate.
It will be a striking point for the upcoming elections. With the present government’s little concern on education, the opposition is taking full benefit to maximise their vote banks. India being a country of youngsters, 2019 may also witness patterns that last long-term in our political lives.