Equal Opportunity Bill to be tabled in Winter Session

A bill that will seek diversity profiling of employees in public and private sectors to help in better recruitment of the disadvantaged people is to be introduced in Parliament during the coming Winter Session.

A bill that will seek diversity profiling of employees in public and private sectors to help in better recruitment of the disadvantaged people is to be introduced in Parliament during the coming Winter Session.

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The legislation that will recommend incentives and disincentives to employers based on information in their records and on their performance in the diversity index is in the final stages of preparation.

"The Equal Opportunity Commission legislation will be tabled in the Winter Session of Parliament. The Law Ministry is working on its final draft. It is the next major step that we will take in bringing the majority and the minority together in concern for equality," Minority Affairs Minister Salman Khursheed told PTI in New Delhi.

The diversity index will show how far a company concerned had gone about in providing affirmative action to the underprivileged sections as per EOC guidelines and its strengths and shortcomings in this respect.

Setting up of the EOC was one of the recommendations of the Sachar Committee, which went into the socio-economic status of minorities.

Khursheed, however, steered clear of questions whether the EOC recommendations would also be applicable to defence forces saying that the Commission has no restrictions on it.