06-01-2006, 07:57 PM
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/artic...602644.cms
Govt asks India Inc to voluntarily opt for reservationAdd to Clippings
NEW DELHI: The issue of reservation in private sector could hot up in the days ahead with the government telling the business and industry to voluntarily opt for it and not to force on it the option of a legislation.
"You have to do it amicably. I am the last person to do it by legislation. Please don't force me to a situation where we have to think of legislation. I have great regard for captains of industry and they should do it. I think they understand their moral responsibility," Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar said.
Participating in Karan Thapar's "India Tonight" programme on CNN-IBN , she said that implementing reservation for the SC/ST in the private sector was a "commitment" of the Congress-led coalition.
"Commitment is to both affirmative action and reservation. Affirmative action includes reservation", she said emphasising that its implementation was "not just a possibility but it is a commitment".
Kumar made it plain that she saw no way other than voluntary action on the part of the industry or legislation. "I suppose there is no third way".
The Social Justice Minister refuted suggestions that she was on a collision course with business and industry on the issue and emphasised that "we have to work with mutual cooperation".
She dismissed as "too hypothetical" a query whether government would drop the demand for reservation in private sector if the industry succeeded in showing that it already employed enough number of people from the deprived sections.
She regretted that the industry and business was "all the time doubting the merit of SC/ST and said government has a "case" for the downtrodden in the country in the form of its proposal.
When confronted with the latest national Sample Survey (NSS) figures, which spoke of the SC/ST as also the OBC getting employment as per their share of the population, Kumar said that she was "not suspicious" about the figures but the deprived sections are generally considered for employment in lower categories.
To claims by certain industry organisations that several companies had already employed sizeable people from the weaker sections, the Minister said that the industry earlier was not even once ready to look into the composition of its workforce despite her pleadings.
"The need of the hour is that we should find job opportunities to SC/ST in the private sector," Kumar said adding that that the proposal in the NCMP was only related to SC/ST and not for OBC.
Govt asks India Inc to voluntarily opt for reservationAdd to Clippings
NEW DELHI: The issue of reservation in private sector could hot up in the days ahead with the government telling the business and industry to voluntarily opt for it and not to force on it the option of a legislation.
"You have to do it amicably. I am the last person to do it by legislation. Please don't force me to a situation where we have to think of legislation. I have great regard for captains of industry and they should do it. I think they understand their moral responsibility," Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira Kumar said.
Participating in Karan Thapar's "India Tonight" programme on CNN-IBN , she said that implementing reservation for the SC/ST in the private sector was a "commitment" of the Congress-led coalition.
"Commitment is to both affirmative action and reservation. Affirmative action includes reservation", she said emphasising that its implementation was "not just a possibility but it is a commitment".
Kumar made it plain that she saw no way other than voluntary action on the part of the industry or legislation. "I suppose there is no third way".
The Social Justice Minister refuted suggestions that she was on a collision course with business and industry on the issue and emphasised that "we have to work with mutual cooperation".
She dismissed as "too hypothetical" a query whether government would drop the demand for reservation in private sector if the industry succeeded in showing that it already employed enough number of people from the deprived sections.
She regretted that the industry and business was "all the time doubting the merit of SC/ST and said government has a "case" for the downtrodden in the country in the form of its proposal.
When confronted with the latest national Sample Survey (NSS) figures, which spoke of the SC/ST as also the OBC getting employment as per their share of the population, Kumar said that she was "not suspicious" about the figures but the deprived sections are generally considered for employment in lower categories.
To claims by certain industry organisations that several companies had already employed sizeable people from the weaker sections, the Minister said that the industry earlier was not even once ready to look into the composition of its workforce despite her pleadings.
"The need of the hour is that we should find job opportunities to SC/ST in the private sector," Kumar said adding that that the proposal in the NCMP was only related to SC/ST and not for OBC.