ICAI told to reserve seats

The Ministry of Company Affairs (MCA) is doing its own bit to further the interests of the weaker sections of society. It has directed the three autonomous bodies under it, Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI), Institute of Company Secretaries Of India (ICSI) and Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), to reserve seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) and has said it is not averse to reservations in private sector companies either.

The ministry has directed ICAI, ICSI and ICWAI to follow the constitutional requirement of reserving positions for the backward classes while employing people with immediate effect. "These institutes have been functioning for more than a decade and still do not follow the directions of the Constitution," said minister of MCA Premchand Gupta.

The Constitution has said that any institute covered within the definition of state under Article 12 of the Constitution has to reserve 22.5 per cent of its staff strength for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Gupta said these three institutions were required to comply with government guidelines on reservation for SCs and STs.

The minister also clarified that this did not mean that these institutes were required to have 22.5 per cent of their members through reservation.

Gupta also endorsed the concept of reserving seats in the private sector but said that his ministry would discuss the matter with the stakeholders before taking a concrete decision.

"Reservation for backward classes is necessary to give a fair chance to all segments of society and reduce the gap between 'haves' and 'have nots'," the minister added. He said that adequate discussion on this issue was required so that a balance could be struck between various viewpoints.

At present, none of these institutes, be it ICAI, ICWAI or the ICSI has any reservation policy. ICAI sources said that the government had asked it to consider reservations for backward classes two years ago.

The institute, however, had expressed its inability to take up such a step on the grounds that it was a research organisation and its quality of work would be affected if people were not hired on the basis of merit.