Chambers split over govt move on quota

Industry chambers are split over the government suggestion to private sector companies to disclose information about the number of SC/ST employees on their rolls.

While the CII and Assocham have agreed to the request and asked their members to compile information on such employees, Ficci feels that it is not possible to do so. CII has 6,500 companies as members, while Ficci has 2,000 members. Assocham claims it has 1,300 members.

"We had conducted a survey of our members. It revealed that there is a good representation of SC/STs in their companies. But they do not have specific information on their recruitment," Ficci president Habil Khorakiwala said.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion has sent a letter to the three industry chambers on February 23 asking them "whether the data of SC/ST employees recruited from January 1, 2007 onwards could be incorporated in the companies' annual reports."

The letter adds that the baseline data on SC/ST employment in the private sector needs to be compiled by the industry in order to ascertain the progress.

A CII spokesperson said the industry body was on track on most points made in the affirmative action plan. "CII has asked its members to compile data on SC/STs and this compilation is underway," the spokesperson added.

Assocham secretary general D S Rawat said, "We have requested all our members to implement affirmative action. We have reminded the companies that if they do not implement affirmative action, the government might be forced to bring in a legislation to ensure reservation for SC/STs in the private sector."

Khorakiwala, however, feels the government must look at alternatives to reservation in the private sector. "The private sector employs just 9.1 million people. So reservation will not really help the cause of SC/STs. We need to think innovatively to address the issue of employment of SC/STs," he added.