The Congress Party on Tuesday released its manifesto, here in Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections. It stated in its manifesto that the party will pass a law on privacy and would restrict the use of Aadhar to the original purposes of the Aadhar Act. It further stated that it will protect the rights of every citizen especially students, journalists, artists, civil society activists and NGOs.
"Congress promises to amend the Aadhaar Act, 2016 in order to restrict the use of Aadhaar to subsidies, benefits and services provided by the government as was originally intended under the law. Congress also promises that, having regard to the inherent limitations of biometric identification, alternate instruments of identification will be allowed under the law," the manifesto said.
The Indian National Congress (INC) said that it will review all laws and revoke the laws which are outdated, unjust or restrict the freedom of people. The party promised to decriminalise all those laws that are essentially directed against civil violations and can be subjected to civil penalties.
The manifesto added that the political party would omit Section 499 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and make 'defamation' a civil offence. The party further said that it will omit Section 124A of the IPC (that defines the offence of 'Sedition') as it has been misused.
The party said in its manifesto that it will make amendments to the laws that permit detention without trial so that they can be in accord with the spirit of the Indian Constitution and the International Human Rights Conventions.
A law titled the 'Prevention of Torture Act' will be passed by the political party in an attempt to prohibit the use of third-degree methods during custody or interrogation and punish cases of torture, brutality or other police excesses.
It further said that it will amend the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958 so that a balance can be achieved between the power of security forces and the human rights of citizens. The Act will also be aimed at removing immunity for enforced disappearance, sexual violence and torture.
The party in the manifesto said that providing healthcare is a shared responsibility of the Central and State governments. It will promote and eventually mandate the digitisation of medical records on the foundation of a robust ICT infrastructure which will have suitable provisions for privacy, mobility and interoperability.
(Edited by: Nehal Solanki)
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