New Delhi, May 11 (PTI) No recruitment, privatisation of the public sector and contractualisation of regular employment have led to the elimination of reservation in jobs, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) said on Saturday and accused the ruling BJP of “duplicity” over the issue.
In a statement issued a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar that he would be the “chowkidar” (guard) for the rights of the marginalised communities, the SKM alleged that 10 years of “Modi Raj abolished reservation” in jobs for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBC).
“No recruitment, privatisation of public sector and contractualisation of regular employment means elimination of reservation in employment,” the farmers’ body said.
It said the BJP-led Centre did not enact a law for reservation in the private sector.
“The SKM strongly rebuffed the duplicity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in abolishing reservation in employment for people belonging to Dalit, Adivasi and other backward communities that constitute a huge majority of the population by implementing pro-corporate policies,” it said.
“Modi is pretending as the saviour of reservation for SC/ST/OBC but actually betrayed them by acting contrary during the last 10 years’ rule. The Modi government did not enact a law for reservation in the private sector,” the umbrella body of farmer unions said.
It said there are 30 lakh vacancies in government departments and public sector undertakings.
“The widespread privatisation of the public sector, including railways, airways, shipyards, steel, banks, insurance, power, defence etc., eliminated the rights of the backward sections to get employment opportunities in lakhs,” the SKM said.
“The contractualisation of regular employment has resulted in loss of job opportunities as well as negation of the rights for minimum wage, job security, social security, including pension, and eight hours’ work,” it added.
The farmers’ body appealed to all sections of the society, including farmers and workers, to “question the false narrative on reservation and the sinister efforts to polarise on communal lines by violating the Model Code of Conduct and the principles of a secular democracy enshrined in the Constitution of India”.
At a rally in Nandurbar on Friday, Modi said he has grown up in poverty and he knows the struggles of the marginalised communities. He said service to Adivasis and the deprived sections of the society is like serving family members for him, adding that he is not like the “Congress’s ‘shahi parivar'”. PTI AO RC
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