Congress panel to brainstorm women, kids issues

New Delhi: As the Congress gets down to brass tacks to prepare its manifesto, a separate committee, headed by All-Mahila Congress head Sushmita Deb has quietly got down to business to identify the issues concerning women and children most.

The Congress recently formed a separate 20-member manifesto committee which has been subsequently divided into 22 groups looking after various subjects like Economic Affairs, headed by former finance minister P. Chidambaram, Agriculture, headed by Punjab finance minister Manpreet Badal and Gender issues, headed by Ms Deb.

“So far I have had 25 closed door consultations with NGOs and humanitarian organisatione like CRY, CFAR and UN Women,” the Mahila Congress chief told this newspaper.

She further said that on November 15, a conclave is being organised with women educationists to get their views on  how to spruce up education opportunities for women.

According to the Assam MP, most concerns and demands of women pertain to the need for job opportunities and good education opportunities for children.

“Many also spoke about the need for proper implementation of the laws for safety of women,” she said.

The Congress has already said that it would make women's reservation a core issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

After all views are collated the different committees will submit their recommendations to the Party's Core Committee for elections which will then finalise the draft manifesto by the end of January.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi is also holding consultations with each ft he committees separately.