Dalit MPs shy away from ‘quota’ meet

Dalit activists from the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) had invited 120 Dalit and tribal MPs to a meeting, to bolster their case for reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the private sector.

Dalit activists from the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations (NACDOR) had invited 120 Dalit and tribal MPs to a meeting, to bolster their case for reservations for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the private sector.

HT Image

Twenty-seven MPs promised to come. Finally, only four attended the meet in Delhi on Wednesday evening.

NACDOR claims support of around 1,200 organisations.

“SEZs get tax concessions and tax holidays after displacing the poor,” said NACDOR chairman Ashok Bharti. “As public money goes into private firms’ success, they should give quotas.”

The activists plan to march to Parliament on December 5.

“Article 19(1) (g), the fundamental right to practise any profession, or carry on any occupation, trade or business, will have to be reasonably restricted to provide quotas within,” said an official associated with the UPA government’s efforts to introduce quotas in the private sector some years ago.