Religion, Caste And Tribe Based Reservation - 3

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<b>Have quotas or else..., Meira tells pvt sector</b>
PTI | New Delhi
Sounding out a stern warning to the private sector to provide reservation in jobs to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, Government on Wednesday said: "Time is running out" for them to act voluntarily.

Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Meira Kumar parried questions on a definite time frame to the private sector but said she plans to go to the Cabinet with the report of the Group of Ministers on the issue "at the earliest" as the reservation "has to be done and done fast".

Rejecting suggestions that the issue has been kept on the backburner in the wake of the OBC quota row, she said: "There is a lot of pressure on me. I am working under lot of pressure but I want it to be done, done amicably and without any type of confrontation. Time is running out."

In an interview to PTI, she declined to hazard any guess on whether the Government would act in the matter before the Monsoon Session of Parliament commencing next month or before the next round of Assembly polls, including in Uttar Pradesh scheduled early next year.

Asked if she is referring to bringing a legislation in this regard, she said: "If they will not do it, then the matter is before the Cabinet and it will decide".

Rejecting suggestions that the matter has taken a backseat in the wake of OBC quota row as also due to lack of consensus with industry on the issue, the Minister said "our next step is that there has to be a collective decision on it".