The PMO reviewed progress on the issue at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee and attended by representatives of chambers FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM besides various ministries.
"In the meeting, progress was reviewed on affirmative action for SCs/STs. It was noted that some progress had been made in adopting the Voluntary Code of Conduct and running skill development and vocation education programs to improve the employability of weaker sections," a PMO statement said.
The meeting decided that "there is scope to ramp up these initiatives and scale up the activities and coverage for there to be a visible impact and recognition of ongoing efforts".
While referring to the actions taken by the three chambers, it was noted that "a lot of effort is being made but it is still sporadic and scattered".
It was suggested that each industry chamber could work out a five-year vision voluntarily which could guide the annual action plans, the statement said, adding, "This would give an idea of the long term path and where they aim to be."
The meeting felt that "a lot of work has been done in the area of affirmative action but not captured well", it said.
"A database also needs to be built up and shared with the Government. It was decided that Secretary (DIPP) would set up a system to collect quarterly data from the three chambers and build a database on Affirmative Action for SCs/STs," the statement said. (MORE)
