BJP Manifesto - Our Social Philosophy

Our Social Philosophy

Rooted in Integral Humanism

THE Bharatiya Janata Party's social agenda flows from its ideology of Integral Humanism. Our ideology rules out contradictions between society and its very components, as also between society and the individual. Our concern for the last man in the last row is as deep as that for the first man in the first row, if not more. The BJP's concept of social justice, therefore, does not seek to create rifts and schisms between various sections of society, but aims at removing social and economic disparities that have resulted in denial of a share in power, impoverishment and erosion of human dignity. An ideal society is not one that is compartmentalized in segments, but is an integral whole, harmonious and conflict-free. Hence, we subscribe to Samajik Samarasata (social harmony) and Samajik Nyaya (social justice) and strive to avoid social strife.

Equal Rights for all in Satta (power), Sampatti (prosperity) and
Samman (dignity)

The BJP will actively promote a casteless socio-economic order that will effectively provide access to equal opportunity for all citizens, irrespective of their caste, creed, religion and gender.
The BJP will, if necessary through legislation, dismantle practices, customs, beliefs, usages and institutions, which in any manner hurt the dignity of an individual.
The BJP will ensure that the place of an individual in society is not determined on the basis of his/her birth.

Untouchability: A Crime Against Humanity

The BJP will remove the last vestiges of untouchability, which we believe is an unpardonable crime against humanity.
The BJP will strive to inculcate an ethos of equality in social and inter-personal relationships.
A befitting National Memorial in honour of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, who dedicated his life to the cause of social justice, will be erected at Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai on the lines of national memorials like Raj Ghat, Shanti Van and Vijay Ghat.

Our Commitment to the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

NEARLY four-and-a-half decades of Congress rule and the recent UF regime have failed to empower the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. While thousands of crores have been spent, ostensibly for their welfare, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes face increasing impoverishment and marginalization. Eighty per cent of members belonging to these sections of Indian society have been pushed below the poverty line. The BJP is committed to the social, economic and political empowerment of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, so that the wrongs of the past are corrected in a time-bound manner for a better future. To fulfill our commitment, we will be guided by a policy whose highlights are as follows:

Existing institutions and Constitutional safeguards for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be strengthened and made operationally more effective.
The provision of special facilities and preferential opportunities, including reservations, will be implemented in a manner so as to benefit the broadest cross-section and largest number of SCs and STs.
The reservations policy will be backed up with a statute and all backlogs will be cleared within a specified time-frame. Special tribunals will be set up under CAT to expeditiously deal with complaints of non-implementation of the reservations policy and related grievances.
All cases of atrocities against members of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes will be promptly inquired into and the guilty punished through special courts.
A comprehensive development package will be introduced for the economic empowerment of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The highlights of this package will include:
a) Setting up of a credit agency on the lines of NABARD to meet individual and institutional credit needs;
b) Vocational training, skill upgradation and financial assistance to encourage greater participation in cottage and rural industries and other means of self-employment;
c) Food-for-education schemes to raise literacy levels;
d) A comprehensive national programme of minor irrigation facilities for irrigable land held by SCs and STs;
e) Endowing every landless rural family of the SCs and STs with land and ensuring sustenance level of income through requisite facilities;
f) Amending the existing forest policy to provide Vanvasis their rightful share of minor forest produce;
g) Processing claims of Vanvasis and Girijans for pattas in forest and hill areas promptly; and,
h) Separate development plans for tribals living in the plains.
The specified allocation for the Special Component Plan (17 per cent) for Scheduled Castes and the Tribal Sub-Plan (8 per cent) for Scheduled Tribes within the total Plan allocation will be strictly followed both at the Centre and in the States. Every effort will be made to ensure that allocated funds do not lapse and are spent as per Plan provisions.
The pernicious practice of carrying night soil will be eliminated and all those engaged in scavenging rehabilitated.
Allotment of pattas for land, home site and homes in the names of wives/widows/ daughters. These will be properly drawn up and handed over to actual beneficiaries;
Unifying the Banjaras under a common category and ensuring that they are benefited by the Minimum Needs Programme;
Necessary steps to stop the exploitation of tribals by contractors and to free them from indebtedness. We will consider enacting a law whereby the outstanding debts of those tribals who have paid back the principal amount and 50 per cent of the capital as interest, will be written off;
Stringent action to prevent tribal land alienation through conversion of tribal land for industrial and other purposes;
A National Policy for the "total rehabilitation" of families displaced by development projects. The policy will include social, economic, educational, environmental, occupational and cultural aspects;
An engineering and a medical college will be set up in the national capital in honour of Maharishi Valmiki and Babasaheb Ambedkar. Fifty per cent seats in these institutions will be reserved for students from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBCs;
Panchayat institutions in scheduled areas and tribal areas will be made effective and functional in the light of Bhuria Committee's recommendations;
Claims for inclusion into the ST list by erstwhile "criminal" tribes and others will be entrusted to a commission for recommendations.

Our Commitment to the Welfare of Socially and
Educationally Backward Classes

THE BJP is committed to ensuring social and economic justice to the Other Backward Classes. This is integral to our concept of Social Harmony (Samajik Samarasata). We reject the divisive and casteist politics of our adversaries that have neither economically empowered the bulk of the OBCs nor reduced their educational backwardness. We propose to:

Continue with the current reservations policy for the Other Backward Classes till they are socially and educationally integrated with the rest of society;
Provide training, financial support and management facilities for upgradation of skills in traditional industries and professions of OBCs;
Take corrective and remedial measures in view of recent macro-economic policy decisions that have rendered several sections of people belonging to the OBCs jobless;
Make the National Backward Classes Finance Development Corporation fully operational.

Our Commitment to Minorities: Towards Equal Opportunity and Prosperity

THE BJP's concept of Positive Secularism is: Justice for All, Appeasement of None. In the name of "secularism", the Congress and the United Front parties have shamelessly pandered to communalism and indulged in "vote-bank politics". As a result, members of the minority communities have been reduced to nothing more than numbers to be played with at the time of elections. While these parties have gained, the minorities have lost-as also has India. The minorities have been cynically used for the purpose of garnering votes these past 50 years, but their socio-economic problems have remained unattended. The true meaning of "secularism", equal respect for all faith-sarva panth samadar- has been perverted by the pseudo-secularists into appeasement of regressive elements.

The coming election provides a window of opportunity to the minorities to take a fresh look at the options that are available to them. They should not go blindly with the so-called "secular" parties that have done nothing to solve their real socio-economic problems. Instead, they should make a clean break with the past and support the BJP. The patron-client relationship advocated by others is different from what we offer-equal rights, equal opportunities, equal privileges and equal responsibilities. Above all, we have proved in the States where the BJP is in power that we can maintain communal peace and harmony; we can ensure security of life and property; and, we can protect the honour and dignity of the minority communities. In keeping with this commitment, we will:

Provide all minority communities with equal opportunities for prosperity;
Encourage access to education which is the key to social and economic progress;
Give all incentives to artisans, especially those involved in traditional arts and crafts;
Initiate special self-employment schemes and the requisite training programmes;
Launch community programmes for raising the level of awareness among women members of the minority communities and providing them with education;
Amend Article 30 of the Constitution suitably to remove any scope of discrimination against any religious community in matters of education;
Entrust the responsibilities of the Minorities Commission to the Human Rights Commission, thus providing greater protection to members of minority communities;
Set up special courts to try cases of communal violence and, if necessary, amend existing laws to provide for exemplary punishment to those inciting or taking part in communal or sectarian violence. The BJP's commitment is to create a riot-free India;
Protect wakf properties from being usurped by unscrupulous individuals and help wakf boards to develop these properties for the welfare of poor Muslim families;
Ban job advertisements which require applicants to declare their religion.

Our Commitment to Kashmiri Pandits

SEPARATIST and sectarian militancy in Jammu and Kashmir during the late-'80s and right up to the mid-'90s resulted in mass migration from the Valley and other areas in Kashmir. More than 300,000 people, including 250,000 Kashmiri Pandits and Pandits, and Punjabi and Dogra Hindus, apart from Muslims, were forced to flee their home and hearth in the Valley by terrorists and fundamentalists. The BJP promises immediate action to help those displaced from the Kashmir Valley and other parts of the State. Towards this end, we propose to:

Work with the Jammu and Kashmir Government to evolve a feasible scheme for the phased return of the displaced people, especially the Pandits, to their ancient land;
Provide all assistance to the Jammu and Kashmir Government in order to ensure that the displaced people receive adequate financial assistance, health care, housing, education and employment facilities till such time they are able to return to their land;
Evolve a rehabilitation package, including adequate assistance to rebuild houses that have been destroyed, that will be an incentive for returning to the Valley;
Ensure that their security is in no way imperiled after they have returned to the land from which they were forced out against their will.

Our Commitment to Human Rights

THE BJP believes that upholding human dignity, ensuring justice for all and protecting citizens from the tyranny of the State are integral to India's ancient traditions and together form the cornerstone of civil society. A just State is one that is kind but also firm in dealing with those who seek to undermine the foundations of a civil society. We will:

Make the National Human Rights Commission a more effective body by providing it with more powers, additional resources and better infrastructural support;
Publicize the findings of the National Human Rights Commission and take action against those found guilty on the basis of irrefutable evidence;
Inculcate among security forces a greater appreciation of the need to safeguard innocent citizens from being harassed in insurgency-affected areas;
Include the study of human, civil and democratic rights in school and college curriculum.
Prevent foreign interference in the internal affairs of our country under the guise of monitoring human rights violations.

Non-Resident Indians

THE BJP believes that Mother India has a special responsibility towards her children abroad. We will depart from the current policy of disinterest and disregard for Non-Resident Indians and actively pursue a policy that will nourish the umbilical link between all people of Indian origin, wherever they may be, with their motherland. We propose to:

Create conditions conducive to the return of talented Non-Resident Indians so that they can fulfill their desire to serve their motherland;
Strengthen the economic, social, cultural, emotional and spiritual links between Mother India and her children abroad;
Re-examine difficulties in granting dual citizenship to Non-Resident Indians;
Mobilize Non-Resident Indians to effectively lobby India's case with the Governments and business establishments of their host country as well as in international fora. In this context, it would be instructive to study the role of Jews and Chinese in the USA in mobilizing opinion favorable to their countries;
Encourage Indians living abroad to project their national identity even while retaining their respective regional and linguistic identities;
Introduce fresh incentives for Non-Resident Indians to invest in their motherland, like China has done with the Chinese people living abroad;
Play an active role in ensuring job and social security for Non-Resident Indians working in the Gulf and South-East Asian countries with special emphasis on preventing exploitation and providing legal assistance;
Revitalize the ties between Mother India and people of Indian origin living in countries like Guyana, West Indies, Fiji, Mauritius and South Africa.