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.

Asked about the caste enumeration decision, Athawale noted such an exercise was never undertaken during the long Congress rule.

"Caste census is a historic decision of (PM) Modi ji. It did not happen during the tenure of Congress. I had demanded many times that OBC census be done. This demand has been raised a lot. When I was aligned with the Congress in the Lok Sabha, I had demanded that census of every caste be done. This will help in knowing percentage of every caste in the population," he averred.

"How many of them are employed, how many have industries, how much farmland they possess, these things will be known through the census. The caste census will help the government to provide them facilities," the Union minister affirmed.

Congress Lok Sabha member Rahul Gandhi has claimed the government's decision on caste enumeration came due to his persistent demand, but that is not the case at all. It was already on the government's mind, he asserted.

Gandhi's repeated criticism of PM Modi has not made any difference to the latter or dented his image, the Union minister stated.

"It seems Rahul Gandhi will never get a chance to become prime minister. Rahul Gandhi keeps attacking Modi ji all the time without any impact. Modi ji has such a strong body that it does not affect him," he said.

On Gandhi's remarks that the RSS prefers Manusmriti (an ancient legal text) over the Constitution, the veteran politician emphasised the BJP has always given primacy to the statute book.

"Manusmriti is a religious subject. The matter of Hinduism is different. The BJP accepts the Constitution first. The Constitution is based on Sarva Dharma Sambhav. Hindus have the largest population in India, followed by Muslims. Then there are Sikhs, Jains, Christians and Buddhists. People of different religions live in our country. There is no truth in Gandhi's allegations," he noted.

People from Hindu dharma believe in Manusmriti, but when it comes to the country and its interests, the Constitution comes first, Athawale emphasised.

Asked about a top RSS leader's call to review the terms "socialist" and "secular" in the Constitution's Preamble, Athawale said, "I don't know what he has said. But initially words like socialism and secularism were not there in the Constitution...they were added later." "Secularism means one respects Hinduism. I am a Buddhist. I am proud of my religion. But before my religion, I am proud of my country. Baba Saheb (B R Ambedkar) had said religion, language and country are all important," he argued.

Babasaheb said the country is more important than caste, religion or language, Athawale pointed out.

"We should be united for the country. The Congress party keeps talking nonsense and the more they do this, the more it will benefit Modi ji," the Union minister contended.