Paswan adamant on reservation demand

Steel and Fertilisers Minister Ramvilas Paswan today asserted that the government would pursue reservations for socially backward classes in the private sector in line with the commitments made in the common minimum programme (CMP).

"The CMP is the base of this government. All policies of the government will be according to the CMP," Paswan said, when asked about the reported assurance by Finance Minister P Chidambaram to captains of Indian industry yesterday in Mumbai that the government would not take affirmative action on reservations in the private sector.

In the face of sharp volatility in the stock markets, Chidambaram had visited Mumbai and reportedly told industrialists that the government would not legislate reservation in the private sector.

Dismissing the vacillation in the stock markets, Paswan said, "Markets keep going up and down. We don't need to worry so much about it."

Emphasising that reservation in the private sector was necessitated in the wake of the privatisation of several public sector units by the previous government, Paswan said, "It is not a question of a particular party. Reservation is a national issue."