Joining the debate on job reservations, NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar has said he is against extending the policy to the private sector, while admitting that India needs to make a greater effort to increase employment.
Several political leaders are advocating job reservation for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes in the private sector.
The government is able to provide employment to 10 -12 lakh youths, though 60 lakh young people join the labour force every year, Kumar told PTI in an interview. Many people used to find some kinds of jobs in informal sector but that has reached a point of saturation, resulting in complaints from different sections of people, he added.
The Lok Janshakti Party led by Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan recently demanded job reservations in private firms. Similar demand has been made in the past by other political outfits as well.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had made a case last year for extending the reservation policy to the private sector. “It is high time we think about reservation in private sector. It should be achieved through debate and dialogue,” he had said.
Nitish Kumar, Bihar chief minister and senior JD(U) leader, had also made a strong case a few months ago for extending reservation in the private sector. “In times of economic liberalisation if reservation is not provided in the private sector, that would be playing a joke with the concept of social justice,” he had said.
But several industry associations have maintained over the years that introducing reservations could create hurdles in growth due to dearth in skilled labour and hurt chances of attracting investments in the state.
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