From Independence to welfare: Satish Jarkiholi on Congress’s approach to social justice

Satish Jarkiholi

As the Indian National Congress marked its Foundation Day on December 28, it is fitting not merely to reflect on an organisation of enduring political relevance but to reaffirm the soul of the Congress: its relentless commitment to social justice, equality, and upliftment of the common person.

The story of the Congress is the chronicle of a people’s movement that has stood, without wavering, with India’s weakest, poorest and most marginalised citizens.

More than a century ago, in pre-Independence India, leaders such as Justice Mahadev Govind Ranade helped shape the moral compass of the Congress. As a founder of the party, Ranade did not merely debate constitutional rights; he fought social evils such as child marriage, campaigned for girls’ education and widow remarriage, and boldly asked a traditional society to “humanise, equalise and spiritualise” itself. These ideas, deeply rooted in Indian ethos, sowed the first seeds of the Congress belief that freedom without equality is incomplete freedom.

Gandhi, Nehru and the masses

Under Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress became the movement of every Indian: peasants and workers, Dalits and Adivasis, women and the rural poor. Gandhi’s insistence on eradicating untouchability and championing the dignity of every human being transformed the party into a popular force for inclusion.  “To say that a single human being, because of birth, becomes an untouchable… is to deny God,” Gandhi declared—a moral injunction that still reflects our core values.  

After Independence, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru carried this heritage into governance. As the Republic’s first prime minister, he made it the nation’s mission to fight poverty, disease and inequality, asserting that democracy must deliver justice to the “peasants and workers of India” who had long been denied opportunity and dignity. 

Decades later, when Indira Gandhi articulated Garibi Hatao, she was not offering a slogan but a mission to transform lives. Her policies expanded access to credit, empowered small farmers, and ensured that political freedom translated into economic and social opportunity for the poor across India.

The progressive arc continued under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi, who modernised Congress’s commitment to rights-based governance. Under the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), India saw the enactment of transformative laws such as the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), which guaranteed livelihoods to rural citizens; the Right to Education Act, ensuring schooling for all children; and the National Food Security Act, affirming that no Indian should sleep hungry. These landmark legislations echo Gandhi’s talisman of serving the “last man” in the society.  

Rahul Gandhi has repeatedly articulated the core belief that development without dignity is hollow, stating that “there can be no development without dignity… ensuring the dignity of every citizen.”  His leadership in initiatives such as the Bharat Jodo Yatra reconnected the party with India’s vast rural heartland, reinforcing Congress’s enduring belief that unity and empathy are inseparable from social justice.

Across generations, Congress has been the political home to India’s working class, farmers, women, marginalised castes, religious minorities, and youth. Time and again, whether through rights legislation, public works or welfare schemes, Congress affirmed that government is not a privilege of the few but a trust of the many.

At every stage, the party reframed India’s progress not as a trickle-down consequence of markets but as structurally uplifting everyday Indians, irrespective of birth, creed, caste or region, a noble ideal rooted in our Constitution.

Today, that legacy finds vibrant expression in Karnataka, where Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Congress government have woven social justice into the fabric of governance through the state’s ambitious Five Guarantees programme, a welfare model that many analysts describe as a form of Universal Basic Services.  

Gruha Lakshmi scheme places money directly in the hands of women household heads, enhancing financial security and gender empowerment; Anna Bhagya ensures food security; Gruha Jyoti lights up homes with free electricity; Shakti empowers women with free bus travel; and Yuva Nidhi supports unemployed youth with a monthly stipend.  

These guarantees have delivered real, measurable benefits to millions, lifting families out of insecurity and giving them the confidence to shape their own futures, which is the very essence of social justice.  

Our political opponents may cast these initiatives as “freebies”, but the people know better. They know that welfare is not charity – it is entitlement, a rightful share of the nation’s wealth and progress. The impact of these policies is demonstrable, from empowering women to lighting up villages, from guaranteeing food to supporting youth, affirming Congress’s belief that no Indian should be left behind.

As we celebrate the Foundation Day of the Indian National Congress, we reaffirm that our legacy is not bound by history alone. It is lived every day in the aspirations of those we serve. From Ranade’s social reform spirit, through the transformative eras of Gandhi, Nehru and Indira, to today’s guarantees for the people of Karnataka, Congress stands committed on the side of justice, dignity and the common man.

This is our heritage, and this will remain our promise!

(The writer is a Congress leader and the Minister of the Public Works
Department, Government of Karnataka)

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.