http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/09/21/pm-india-to-crack-down-on-discrimination-in-private-sector/
India to crack down on discrimination in private sector?
India's government is attempting to reduce caste discrimination in
the country by setting employment quotas for some of India's lowest
caste members. It made a move into the private industry by asking
India's largest companies to disclose which castes their employees are
from.
TEXT OF STORY
Kai Ryssdal: In the Indian economy, what a person can do, what they
can become, is not entirely in their own hands. The caste system there
still plays a huge part in where you can go to school, who you can
marry and what job you're likely to get. The Indian government's
latest try at elevating Dalits -- or those from lower castes -- isn't
going over so well with private companies.
Raymond Thibodeaux reports new from New Delhi.
----------------------------------------------------------
Raymond Thibodeaux: India has long set aside a quarter of government
jobs for the country's most oppressed castes. Now the government is
mulling quotas for the private sector. It asked India's biggest 1,000
companies to disclose the caste of their employees. Fewer than 60
companies complied with the request.
Chandrabhan Prasad is an activist and author from the Dalit community
-- India's largest, most-oppressed caste.
Chandrabhan Prasad: Those companies that are not prepared to disclose,
that means they don't have as many lower-caste Dalits in their
companies. If they did have more, what would they have to fear?
Prasad says it's too bad the government has been forced to get
involved in this issue.
Prasad: The private sector should have come into the picture and said,
"Now we are reforming the economy. We have a liberal economic setup.
We should have a liberal social setup as well."
Prasad says even many big American companies operating in India have
been slow to hire from among the lower castes. He says it's because
many U.S. companies outsourcing to India are unaware of the caste
system's complicated legacy of discrimination.
Narendra Jadhav: The caste system has survived for 2,000 years. It is
a brilliantly conceived and brilliantly administered scam. It was all
done to maintain the hegemony of a very small strata of society.
That's Narendra Jadhav, a Dalit and a senior member of the
government's Planning Commission for Economic Development. He says
there's been some progress in moving India's lower castes into
better-paying jobs -- certainly, in the public sector, and to some
extent in the private. But he says this isn't because of any concerted
effort on the part of the bosses. The disadvantaged castes are making
their own opportunities.
Jadhav: But India is moving to becoming an economic superpower. They
have opportunities to educate. They have opportunities to make
something out of their lives. This process has begun. It is still a
long way to go.
Jadhav predicts there's always be caste distinctions in India, but he
agrees with many business leaders who say that in the new, more
urbanized India, discrimination based solely on caste is declining,
but perhaps too slowly. Some big Indian corporations such as Tata and
Infosys are starting to take notice. They have taken the lead in
affirmative action-hiring and training programs.
Jamshed Irani: Tata in particular believes that these discriminations
should be erased.
Jamshed Irani is director of Tata Sons.
Irani: The Tata Group is leading this movement, as it believes that it
is the right thing to do for Indian industry.
Irani says private industry would be better off voluntarily hiring
lower-caste employees. Analysts say if it doesn't take affirmative
action more seriously, India's government is likely to force it to.
In New Delhi, I'm Raymond Thibodeaux for Marketplace.
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