Political narrative towards reservation in private sector to upset investors: ASSOCHAM

Batting surely for affirmative action , India Inc is opposed to any move to bring in reservation in the private sector as the same would certainly be a big dent on the country's investment climate and negate the perception advantage given by a jump in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, ASSOCHAM cautioned.

At a time when the Indian economy is seeking positive triggers for growth revival, any political narrative on reservation in the private sector would bring in a big blow. The industry is already tackling the challenges from the roll out of the Goods and Services Tax along with the short-term demonetisation impact. The political parties should rather focus on creating an environment that helps such an economic pace that millions of jobs are created both in the public and private sectors and are urged to avoid sending wrong signals to the global and domestic investors, ASSOCHAM Secretary General Mr D S Rawat said.

He said, in any case, there is a dearth of private sector investment with capacity utilisation in several sectors not going beyond 72-75 per cent . On top of it, if the political economy of the country is geared to populist sentiments, the environment for growth could be vitiated badly.

"ASSOCHAM has always been pressing for the affirmative action by the industries for the economically weaker sections of the society. In fact, there is a somewhat similar sentiment across the entire India Inc which has been contributing a lot to the nation building and economic growth. We have been asking our members to give preference in recruitment to the local candidates, train them, skill them and keep in mind the affirmative aspect," the chamber Secretary General said. India is a key destination for top global corporations doing cross border businesses. All efforts must be made to make the business environment friendly here.

He cautioned that in states where the refrain of reservation catches up for short term political gains for some parties, could be avoided by the investors who prefer a conducive environment and the least amount of political interference. These states should rather focus on removing the bureaucratic bottlenecks for the industry and trade.

The Industry is willing to engage with the government both at the Centre and states for projects in skill development, training and hiring, so that those at the bottom of the economic pyramid are hand held and upscaled, the ASSOCHAM said. But, any move towards reservation in private sector would be a regressive, the chamber said.

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