a day ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Union minister Athawale bats for caste-based job quota in private sector
RAIPUR: Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale has pitched for caste-based job quota in the private sector, saying several government-run enterprises are being privatised.
Talking to reporters in Raipur on Tuesday, the Republican Party of India (A) president, who is aligned with the BJP, hailed the Narendra Modi government's decision to include caste enumeration in the upcoming population census, calling it a "historic" move.
To a query on reservation for the underprivileged and backward communities in the private sector, the minister said he has been demanding such a measure since a long time.
"It has been our long-standing demand. Ram Vilas Paswan (former Union minister and Dalit leader from Bihar), Udit Raj (Congress leader who was earlier in BJP), and myself had demanded that reservation be given in the private sector," Athawale emphasised.
"Now government enterprises are being privatised. Balco company in Chhattisgarh was also privatised. There is no reservation in the private sector.
We are giving reservation to Scheduled Castes/Tribes, OBC and economically weaker sections (in government jobs).
Though I am in the government, my party's demand is that quota be implemented in the private sector as well," he said.
