Quote: PMO to monitor SC/ST hiring by cos

NEW DELHI: India Inc has assured the government that it would promote ‘positive discrimination’ favouring recruitment of backward classes and ask corporates to report data on employment of persons belonging to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe (SC/ST).

At the second meeting of the coordination committee on affirmative action in the Indian industry, convened by the PMO on Saturday, industry chambers said that they would soon adopt a code of conduct on affirmative action.

“We have all maintained that a mandatory legislation on quotas should not be forced on us. We are voluntarily prepared to do our bit in providing employment opportunities to the backward classes,” an industry representative who attended the meeting told ET.

The PMO has decided to call another meeting of the committee in two weeks to take stock of the extent to which the promises made by the chambers have been implemented.

Industry representatives feel that a serious implementation of the policy of ‘positive discrimination’ would result in sizeable increase in employment of these persons in the organised industry. Positive discrimination means that SC/ST candidates would be given preference in employment, other things being equal.

CII and Assocham informed the committee that they had finalised a code of conduct on affirmative action and circulated it amongst members, an official release said. Ficci agreed to soon evolve a similar plan of action for its constituents. There was also agreement that an ombudsman — with regional benches — would be set up by each apex chamber to monitor the compliance of the voluntary code of conduct.

The official release added that chambers also agreed to intensify their efforts in developing the skills sets of SC/ST persons. All chambers said that significant steps have been taken by them during the last few months to promote entrepreneurship through professional agencies.

CII has selected 345 SC/ST persons for imparting entrepreneurship training at seven centres in different parts of the country with the assistance of Entrepreneurial Development Institute, Ahmedabad. “We expect to train a total of 500 persons by the end of the current fiscal,” a CII representative said. Ficci expects to train 500 persons belonging to the backward classes this year.

The chamber announced the setting up of four such entrepreneurial development centres with the capacity to train 600 candidates each. Assocham said 300 of the nearly 1000 candidates trained by it have already set up new ventures.