Headlines
CPI-M demands quota for SC, ST in private sector
Visakhapatnam, April 16
The Communist Party of
India-Marxist on Thursday demanded reservations for the Scheduled
Castes and the Scheduled Tribes in the private sector and a legislation
to prevent discrimination in allocation of resources for these sections
of the society.
The CPI-M at its 21st Congress here passed a resolution to this effect.
Briefing
reporters on the proceedings of the Congress on the third day on
Thursday, party leader Brinda Karat said there should be extension of
constitutional requirement of reservation to all sectors of employment
as a large area of employment is out of the purview of reservation.
"In
the new liberal framework with ban on recruitment, with outsourcing and
with contractualisation etc. in central government and public sector
undertakings, the constitutional requirement for reservations has been
subverted," she said.
The resolution noted that the Modi
government has further cut allocations for the Scheduled Caste Special
Component Plan (SCSCP) and the shortfall is as high as Rs.46,385 crore.
"The
shortfall in allocations for the Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) is an equally
shocking figure, Rs.20,000 crore. Thus, while the population of the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes as a proportion of the total population is
around 25 percent, the share of allocations to the Scheduled Castes and
Tribes, which were at an all-time low this year, was just 10 percent,"
it said.
The party demanded that allocations for the SCSCP and the TSP should be made mandatory through an appropriate law.
By another resolution, the party demanded implementation of reports of various committees for the development of minorities.
These
include the recommendations made by the Sachar Committee and the
Ranganath Mishra Commission, and, more recently, the recommendations of
the Evaluation Committee headed by Professor Amitabh Kundu.
It
said the recommendations of the Kundu Committee and the Ranganath Mishra
Commission, including on the issue of reservations for minority
communities, should be accepted and implemented.
Brinda Karat
said the party condemned attacks on minorities. "Absolutely outrageous
statements like the demands for an end to voting rights of Muslims are
leading to even more insecurity," she said.
In the 2015-16
Budget, the allocation for development projects for minority communities
constitutes an abysmal 0.23 per cent of the total allocations. This
paltry amount makes a mockery of the democratic requirement that urgent
steps be taken to address the serious problems of the Muslim minority
that were exposed by the Sachar Committee, the resolution said.
The
party demanded that a minority sub-plan be put in place to ensure that
funds commensurate with their share in the population are made available
for the all-round development of minorities.
The party also
demanded that the Prevention of Communal Violence Bill should be tabled
in parliament, while taking into account federal concerns.