The equal opportunity system practiced in the US and the UK might be the basis for setting up an equal opportunity commission (EOC) in India to address the issue of job reservation for minorities and Dalits and institutionalise affirmative action in the private sector.
Eminent jurist NR Madhava Menon, who is the chairman of the newly constituted expert group to look into the setting up the EOC, told FE on Thursday that the panel will look into the functioning of the EOCs in Western countries and find out ways to incorporate the ?best practices? into the Indian system.
?We will study the functioning of EOCs in countries like the UK and the US. In those countries, even a tender can?t be announced if the criterion of equality is not met. This is applicable to even private firms. This was often a better method than reservation for providing jobs and education for blacks and even people of Indian origin in those countries,? Menon said.
The commission is currently looking into ways to include in its terms of reference specific criteria such as ensuring all appointments in private and public organisations without discrimination.
The expert group, announced by the ministry for minority affairs on Thursday, is to decide the charter and the structure of the EOC. Members of the panel are likely to be ?political persons? rather than ?experts?. The group may also recommend that the EOC be made a ?constitutional body.?
Menon said the main objective of the EOC would be ensuring economic equality. ?Even though the economic sector of the country is liberalised, the disparity between the rich and the poor is increasing. In the farm sector this trend is more visible,? Menon said.
Negating the argument that the EOC is only to help Muslims, Menon said that it could also deal with discriminations in other segments as well.