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Our Bureau

CII, Assocham promise results in a year; no commitment from FICCI

New Delhi , July 28

Indian industry has turned out to be a divided house on the issue of affirmative action for members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), with FICCI making no such commitment while CII and Assocham have said that results would be visible within the next year.

In the report on affirmative action in the case of employment of SC/ST candidates in the private sector, CII and Assocham have said that industry would endeavour to reflect greater representation in new recruitment at all levels.

Companies would also strengthen their HR systems, enhancing access and opportunity to applicants from SCs and STs with equal qualifications and competence for employment.

Moreover, according to the CII-Assocham plan, companies would be encouraged to provide for more executive positions through appointment and promotions of candidates belonging to these categories.

FICCI, on the other hand, made public a survey conducted by it where there were sharply divergent views on companies' willingness to voluntarily give preference for recruitment to candidates from socially and economically backward groups over equally competent general category candidates.

"While 50 per cent of the responding companies showed their readiness to adopt a policy of affirmative action, the other half declined to do so in their respective organisations," the survey said.

On the CII-Assocham `Affirmative Action' plan through a code of conduct for their members, FICCI top brass said: "What code of conduct? Our members are willing to go to backward areas provided a public-private partnership is developed where Government provides the infrastructure. The industry is willing to set up business and also training centres to provide training to people of backward areas."

Though CII-Assocham called the industry efforts "voluntary and self-regulatory," it took a hard line in terms of "deliberate non-compliance" by members, but FICCI was not willing to lay down any kind of guidelines for its members.

While both sides are in favour of developing entrepreneurs in the backward communities and CII-Assocham is in favour of companies mentoring these entrepreneurs, FICCI has spelt out a clear set of preconditions that the Government would have to fulfil, including a well-defined affirmative action policy for financial institutions to supply adequate capital to such target groups for setting up such businesses.

FICCI recommends that in the current policy of `price preference' to public sector units, preferential terms should be extended to people from the SCs and STs if they get into entrepreneurial activity and extend grants, licences and contracts to them.

While CII-Assocham has set out a clear time plan for the industry to implement `Affirmative Action', FICCI has not defined any clear timeframe for its agenda in this regard.

However, there seems to be common ground when it comes to issues such as education.

Both sides lay emphasis on primary and secondary education as the key to development of the backward communities.

While CII-Assocham have suggested that industry must partner with NGOs to improve the level of primary education in Government and municipal schools, beginning with the 104 districts that have pronounced SC/ST population, FICCI would like the Kerala model to be adopted where there would be a public-private partnership with a zero-dropout target.

Where upgradation of ITIs is concerned, both sides would like to be associated with the effort so as to enhance the number of seats in the ITIs and introduce short-term industry relevant modular courses.

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