November 23, 2014
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TELANGANA: Seminar on Privatisation in Private Sector

Parliament must legislate to ensure reservations in private sector and to make the corporates accountable for its implementation felt Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR) chairman Sukhadeo Thorat. Nowhere in the world is such affirmative action completely voluntary and self regulatory as it is in India now, he pointed out. Thorat was addressing a seminar on ‘Reservations in Private Sector’ at Sundarayya Vignana Kendram in Hyderabad on November 16. The seminar was organised by Telangana state committee of the CPI(M) in the run up to its first state conference to be held in Hyderabad from February 26 to March 1. The seminar was presided over by economic analyst Ande Satyam and was addressed among others by CPI(M) Telangana state secretary Thammineni Veerabhadram, former chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh, Kaki Madhava Rao and civil rights activist Professor G Haragopal. Thorat in his speech found fault with the system of leaving the entire affirmative action to the discretion of corporates who had to sign up to the code evolved by the then UPA government headed by Manmohan Singh. The corporates were supposed to inform the prime minister every year about the progress made in implementing affirmative action as per the agreement arrived at by the corporate bodies CII, FICCI etc with the prime minister in 2006. The lack of interest among corporates was evident in the fact that even after 8 years, only 12 per cent of CII members signed the code. And even among those who signed how many were actually implementing the code is hardly known because their reports are supposed to be submitted to the prime minister. Thorat wondered whether the present prime minister would have received those reports. Thorat asserted that caste plays an important role in the selection of employees in private sector. He quoted from a survey carried out among Medium, Small and Micro Enterprises (MSMEs) in 2006-07 to buttress this assertion. As per the survey, in MSMEs owned by upper castes, 10 per cent of employees were SCs, 5 per cent STs, 21 per cent OBCs and 64 per cent upper castes. In those owned by OBCs, the proportions were 11, 3, 63 and 24 per cent upper castes. In firms owned by SCs, the spread was more secular -- 37 per cent SCs, 5 per cent STs, 28 per cent OBCs and 30 per cent upper castes. Although both Dalits and non-Dalit poor suffer from similar problems of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, lack of access to education, health etc, because of the peculiarity of caste system in our country, the Dalits suffer more when compared to non Dalit poor. He cited the figure of unemployment. While the average rate of unemployment in the country is 6 per cent, among Dalits it is 11 per cent. Dalits face caste discrimination not just in social sphere but also in economic sphere and this point was underscored by B R Ambedkar long back in 1930s. He welcomed the communist parties appreciation of this position now and actively working to change the situation. Thammineni Veerabhadram said that the CPI(M) will build a popular movement on the demand of reservations in private sector. The Party will work for people’s welfare, social justice and comprehensive development. As the public sector was shrinking at a rapid pace due to the pursuit of neo-liberal economic policies by successive governments at the centre, there is an urgent need to demand for reservations in private sector. This does not mean that the Left parties are giving up the fight for safeguarding the public sector. He called upon upper caste sections to yearn for development of lower caste people and wage a reformation movement. This is possible only when there is a broad movement in the society for such a change. He urged all the 10 Left parties in the state and progressive sections of the society to join the movement to fulfill this most democratic aspiration of the downtrodden sections. Former chief secretary K Madhava Rao felt that the reservations in private sector can be achieved only when the movement for it reaches a stage where the rulers have no option but to concede the demand. He debunked the notion that private corporates are built by private individuals and said no corporate can stand without support from the government. Every aspect of the corporates is linked to government support and it is high time they give back to society by adopting equitable policies. This responsibility is actually more on private sector rather than public sector, he felt. Professor Haragopal observed that social justice is achieved only by direct participation of larger sections of people in the movement. Development in a society must always be judged on the basis of how equitable that society is becoming as a result. He called for governmental control over private industry to ensure goals of equity are met. Professor Ghanta Chakrapani felt there should be an all India movement for ensuring reservations in private sector. Although he did not believe that mere enactment of a law would result in ensuring reservations, it would at least raise the confidence of the downtrodden sections to question the powers that be. There is continued discrimination even in the public sector itself for these sections as is evident from the huge backlog of posts reserved for SC/STs. The private corporate owners are predominantly adherents of the ideology of Manu and therefore only a powerful all India movement can force them to concede this most genuine demand, he felt. Professors Sripada Ramudu, Bhukya Bhangya, Adapa Satyanarayana and social activists Addanki Dayakar and Satyam Madiga also spoke in the seminar. Later a resolution moved by G Ramulu, Convenor of Centre for Telangana People’s Culture (TPSK) was adopted by the seminar urging for legislation to implement reservations in private sector. (INN)