A first: Right to healthcare, by law

NEW DELHI: Congress rebuffed the Modi government’s insurance-based model for providing universal healthcare and said it would “vigorously promote and implement” the free public hospitals model to provide healthcare. It also promised to enact a right to healthcare Act.

On education, the party said it would encourage universities to award “deprivation points” to students seeking admission based on gender, permanent residence in rural districts and first generation learner, among others, to ensure diversity in the classroom. It also said it would make school education from Class 1 to Class 12 in government schools compulsory and free, for which it will amend the Right to Education Act.

Congress’s promise of a holistic agenda for SCs/STs/OBCs included the setting up of an Equal Opportunities Commission to recommend affirmative action strategies and policies to achieve equality and equity in education, employment and economic opportunities.

It said it would fill the backlog of vacancies reserved for SCs/STs/OBCs in government, semigovernment and central public sector organisations within a year, apart from tackling the contentious issue of amending the Constitution to provide reservation in promotion posts for these groups.

On the health front, Congress promised to substantially improve the doctor to population ratio, and said it would increase the number of doctors, including specialists, by establishing more medical colleges, increasing capacity of medical colleges and providing scholarships and loans to medical students.

It said it would fill all vacancies in primary healthcare centres and public hospitals in one year, adding that it would double government expenditure on healthcare to 3% of GDP by 2023-24. It also said it would enact a Right to Healthcare Act to guarantee healthcare services to all citizens, including free diagnostics, out-patient care, medicines and hospitalisation through a network of public hospitals and enlisted private hospitals.

Congress said it would double allocation for education to 6% of GDP till 2023-24, and promised to “restore autonomy” of colleges and universities and entrust their regulation, grading and funding to separate organisations.