Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan: Congress to appoint booth, mandal & block presidents where DCC chiefs are chosen

New Delhi: Congress is initiating a second round of organisational revamp at grassroot level by appointing new presidents to its block, mandal and booth level committees in states where it has chosen new district presidents as part of ‘Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan’.

The programme will be rolled out first in Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana where new presidents were chosen for 144 organisational districts this year so far. 

The process for appointing district presidents have been almost complete in Jharkhand, Odisha, Uttarakhand and Punjab while the process has started in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana. 

The process –  in which AICC observers fan out in districts for a consultation process to help the central leadership finalise a district president – has started or completed in ten states covering 274 organisational districts and it is expected to cover the entire country by year-end. Poll-bound states like Kerala will get relaxation on the timeline for completing the process of electing new presidents.

So far, the party said, the AICC observers cumulatively have spent 1,912 days in the field for the consultation process.

Under the new organisational revamp, district presidents have been given more powers. Congress General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the purpose of the revamp is to build a “performing, stronger and accountable” organisation at booth, mandal and block levels.

“Wherever we have completed appointing district presidents, we are going to take up selection of presidents for block, mandal and booth presidents as well as appointment of Booth Level Agent-1 (BLA-1) and Booth Level Agent-2 (BLA-2),” Venugopal said.

The revamp was rolled out after a Congress Working Committee in Belagavi last December announced that 2025 will be the year of Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan. 

With the party focussing on social justice plank, the Congress is now taking extra care to maintain social balance by providing adequate representation for Dalits, tribals, OBCs and minorities.

“The process is commendable in increasing the representation of district presidents of OBC category from 24% to 33%, SCs from 4% to 12%, tribals from 6% to 12% and minorities from 5% to 9%. Efforts are also being made to increase women representation. Youngsters are given more priority, with the process increasing the percentage of district presidents below the age of 50 years from 20% to 51%,” a note shared by the Congress said.

The newly-appointed district presidents are given intensive training in organisational discipline, booth management, digital tools, fundraising and issue-based mobilisation. A system of monthly activity calendars has been introduced with a review system through ‘connect centres’ to ensure that the district units function with “measurable activities and public visibility”.

The note said that the training modules in Madhya Pradesh included an “emphasis of organisation over personality politics, breaking away from old patterns” while in Gujarat new presidents were exposed to various concepts that covered Congress ideology to grassroot political action. Haryana saw training with a focus on booth-level strengthening and youth engagement.

Performance of District presidents will be assessed on a variety of parameters including fund raising capabilities, membership promotion, election management, social media impact and responsiveness to cadre and people.