Today is Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s 75th birthday. Gandhi, Congress’s longest-serving president, has experienced many highs and lows throughout her political career.

Gandhi was elected president of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) in 1998 and a Member of Parliament from the Amethi parliamentary seat in 1999. She went on to become the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha after that.

Her journey from a young grieving widow to the centre-stage of India’s politics, speaks volumes of her leadership skill in a country with which she was not familiar but became a naturalized citizen of. Her Italian origin continues to be a bugbear for her leadership.

Under her stewardship, the Congress emerged as the single largest party in the 2004 General Elections and formed the government in the Centre with a rainbow coalition also comprising of the Left parties. Gandhi has led the Congress for more than 20 years. In 2017, she resigned from the post of UPA chairperson and her son Rahul Gandhi was named party president. However, Sonia Gandhi was back in the saddle when Rahul Gandhi decided to step down following the party’s defeat in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Key social welfare measures under Sonia Gandhi’s tenure as UPA boss:

Right to Information Act 2005 (RTI): Makes information accessible to citizens. Right to Information Act 2005 mandates timely response to citizen requests for government information.

Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act 2005 (MNREGA, now MGNREGA): MGNREGA is also known as the UPA’s signature programme. Under this act, every rural family that demands employment, within 15 days of their demand and within 5 km of where they live. And instead of a dole, MGNREGA pledges the dignity of work that would also build the rural infrastructure. Despite mocking it, the NDA government has continued with it by increasing its grants as a useful tool.

Read Also: Sonia Gandhi turns 75 today, here are some throwback pictures of longest serving Congress president

Right to Education Act 2009 (RTE): This Act provides for free and compulsory education for children aged between 6-14 years in India under Article 21 (A) of the Constitution of India. Under this, no school can deny admission to a child in the age bracket of 6-14.

National Food Security Act 2013 (RTF): When the Congress returned to power in 2009 on the basis of the government’s pro-poor policies. The UPA chairperson spelt out her priorities ‘Food for All.’ The law was passed in 2013, became the largest social security programme backed by law in the world.

The post Sonia Gandhi birthday special: From Right to Education to Right to Information know key social welfare measures under her watch as UPA boss appeared first on APN News.