Date:17/12/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/12/17/stories/2004121705491200.htm

National

Reservation in private sector

The Deputy Secretary to the Government of India (Media), Deepak Srivastava, writes:

In the article "Thousands of disabled people to get prostheses in February" ( The Hindu , December 12, 2004), the Union Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment, Ms. Meira Kumar, has been quoted as saying that Parliament would amend the National Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act for giving reservation to the minorities in the private sector and that the Union Cabinet had cleared the subject.

It is regrettable that the article has not quoted her correctly as she had not mentioned either any such intention towards the amendment of the said Act or the decision of the Union Government. What she, in fact, had said in response to the question which pertained to the minorities was that in order to give greater confidence to the minorities, the Constitution would be amended to give constitutional status to the National Commission for Minorities. She had also mentioned that a National Commission had been set up to see how best the welfare of the socially and economically backward sections amongst the religious and linguistic minorities, including reservation in education and government employment, was enhanced. The Commission has been set up as per the National Common Minimum Programme of the UPA Government.