Roundtable- Report
Wednesday, 3rd August, 2005

On 3rd August 2005, India Development Foundation organized a round table conference titled ‘Social Inclusion: Role of the Private Sector’. The roundtable was a conglomeration of people from different backgrounds and professions. Yet all these gathered on one platform to discuss the role private sector in India can play in making an effort towards bringing various backward sections of the society into the mainstream. The discussion, which lasted for more than three hours, witnessed sharing of various comments, opinions and experiences. It was aimed at finding a set of plausible solutions.

Almost all those present for the discussion agreed that the private sector has an important role to play in the social inclusion of the backward classes. It was also felt by some that the focus has shifted to the private sector’s efforts as government initiatives in this regards have only been partly successful. Some of the participants observed that even reservation for backward classes in public sector, both in providing education as well as the job opportunities has not had any concrete impact in improving the situation.

It was agreed by most that providing the less privileged class some formal education and training would be an effective solution. This would ensure that once they enter the labour market, they are equally competent to other sections of the society. At the same time it was pointed out that discrimination in the labour market may crowd out the benefits of better training. Further doubts were also raised regarding the quality of the education
being currently given. It was felt by a few that the training being provided to the economically backward classes does not make them competitive enough to be employed by the private firms. The firm is forced to provide them with in house training. Thus the quality of the education being provided becomes an important factor in determining the success of the effort.

A section of the participants felt that reservation in the private sector may be a possible solution in enabling their inclusion in the mainstream. This would help in eliminating any biases that the employer may have against these classes. It was also pointed out that such a measure may not be very effective as only a small portion of the work force in the organized sector. Only nine million people are employed in organized private sector as compared to three hundred and forty million in the unorganized part. Reservation thus
would only ensure that a small set of jobs would be available for the target group.

Another set of arguments advocated a free hand to the private sector. This implies that the employment opportunities should be left to the market forces. Some people were of the opinion that private sector should be allowed to grow in size. This would ensure that private sector, forced by its own needs, takes measures for the social inclusion. Associating small firms as auxiliary units with large firms is another possibility that was suggested.

Presentation