The Hindu Business Line : Quotas for jobs in pvt sector by July 30?

THE Maharashtra Government expects to enforce 52 per cent reservations in the private sector, hopefully by July 30 and, if required, serious and genuine issues if raised by the corporates would be addressed in earnest.

There are no indications as yet that there would be a rollback of the stipulations following an enactment by the Legislature in December 2003. The intent so far "is only of enforcement." But apparently, some voices of protest are being raised but the Government does not want to acknowledge them publicly.

The quotas are on par with what is applicable to the State Government and under the law adopted in December, is being made the rule for all establishments, whether in cooperatives, semi-Government or Government-aided institutions, including universities.

But the private sector is covered under the description of `Government-aided institutions' as being those that are "recognised, licensed, supervised or controlled by Government." It may involve some two lakh jobs.

However, there is anticipation in Government circles that the corporates would not take this system of quotas tamely and would fight, including threaten to take their business to outside Maharashtra.

According to Dr Patangrao Kadam, Industries Minister, "We will deal with this carefully. We will take them into confidence and make sure that investment levels remain high." Nothing, said Dr Vijaykumar Gavit, Minister of State, General Administration, whose brainchild this Bill is, "will be done without taking the industrial sector into confidence. We are formulating rules under a recently adopted legislation and we will take their help." His argument is simple: "Whatever functions on our land has to be regulated by us by right. This is an issue that combines the affirmative quotas for the disadvantaged."

Initially, the Government set out on this route with a Bill to make sure that backlogs of vacancies not filled in Government sector are filled up and the officials who do not cooperate are punished by fines of Rs 5,000 and jail terms of 90 days. But when it went to a Joint Select Committee of the legislature, ideas were thrown around and what developed was quotas for not just Government employees being enforced, but all cooperatives, government-aided entities too were brought under its purview.

According to Dr Gavit, "Some members in the Joint Select Committee said why not have all Government-run corporate bodies also covered by this law?"

He explained to the Business Line: "We foresee many Government PSUs in Maharashtra to be privatised eventually. Then if the newly privatised corporate entities are covered by the reservations rule, why not add the private sector too? The members visualised some opposition but on the social platform, this had to be done."

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