CII delays list of SC/ST employees

After one year of making public its affirmative action agenda, Indian industry is yet to come out with the number of Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) employees on its rolls.

Industry bodies like the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), which earlier said they were collecting the data and would ensure that the numbers were given in their member companies' annual reports, now say it may not be possible.

Till date, only 579 out of about 7,000 member companies of the CII have adopted its code for positive discrimination in recruitment.

"To start with, we were clueless about the proportion of SCs/STs in the private sector. In last one year, we have increased the proportion but still have to arrive at the exact figures. So we cannot commit on what their proportion is," said JJ Irani, chairman, CII Council for Affirmative Action.

The industry chamber had earlier said that the proportion of SCs/STs in private companies could be 15-20 per cent at the clerical level and 90-100 per cent at lower levels (like sweepers etc).

On last year's remark that several CII members (80-90 companies) had agreed to put the figures in their annual reports, Irani said, "The number of companies is even more now, but annual reports are basically business reports. We can't say if the numbers can be provided there. But we will submit the numbers to the government whenever it wants them."

Irani reiterated the CII's stand against quotas in the private sector but said they would stick to their commitment to positive discrimination in favour of SCs/STs during recruitment.

The chamber, which started its reform agenda in 2007 after demand from some political parties for private sector reservation, even came out with a code of conduct for its member companies envisaging equal opportunities and inclusive growth.

"We agree that the number is small but almost 60 per cent of our companies are small and medium ones. Our focus is on big ones with large workforce. The ones which have already joined the campaign are the big ones, which makes the difference," said SS Mehta, director general, CII.

Irani was briefing mediapersons on the CII's achievements on the affirmative action front for the 2007.

As against the target of creating 100 entrepreneurs in 2007, CII said 1,594 people were undergoing the process.

"Our initiatives in skill development and employability creation have benefitted 22,580 people when the target was only 10,000. Likewise, we have provided 531 scholarships for SC/ST students pursuing higher education in premier institutions in the country as against the target of 50 scholarships for 2007," said Irani.

But the CII is non-committal on this year's targets. "As it was the beginning, we just picked up some targets last year which we have surpassed in multiples. We do not want to put any number as of now," said Irani.