Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, during a visit to Peru and Chile, took aim at the state of India’s education and economic policies, warning of a system that side lines the majority of the population and crushes small businesses.
"The government should spend much more money on education than it currently does. It shouldn't just abrogate the responsibility of education to private players," he said, calling for high-quality, low-cost public education that is accessible to all Indians.
Rahul slammed the existing education system for favouring upper castes while marginalising middle and lower castes, tribal communities, and adivasis.
"India has a social system with upper castes dominating, and middle and lower castes, which form the bulk of the population, are not represented in education. I would like to include the history and traditions of our adivasis, tribal people, middle castes, and lower castes in the system."
He added that the erosion of scientific temper and logical thinking over the last decade has caused damage.
Rahul underscored the urgency of defending critical thinking in India’s education system. "This is under attack in India—the idea of free thinking, the idea of being open, the idea of being scientific, of being logical, this is under tremendous attack in India currently. And that's something that we want to defend
Turning to the economy, Rahul condemned the current model that favours trading monopolies over production.
"A lot of the policies that the BJP has been following are designed to weaken and destroy the small and medium sector. I believe that the small and medium sector is the backbone of manufacturing. Small, medium companies eventually become big companies if you support them," he said, arguing that India must build an alternative manufacturing system to generate jobs and revive local industry.
On foreign policy, Gandhi insisted that India can compete with China without triggering conflict. "There are issues on our border. We also have an issue with their military partnership with the Pakistanis. But it's nothing that we cannot resolve and nothing that cannot be sorted out."
He also flagged opportunities for collaboration with countries like Peru and the United States in healthcare, education, and technology.