The corporate affairs ministry is working on a proposal to give ‘social credits’ to

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encourage companies to hire more scheduled caste and tribe people in the UPA government’s ‘affirmative action plan’.

To earn such credits companies may be asked to include the number of ST/SC people employed by them in their annual reports and results.

Salman Khurshid, corporate affairs minister, told Financial Chronicle that the government was examining all options to give incentives to industry to implement the plan. Social credit is one of the options. “Those who want to trade in social credit can get some advantages from the government,” he said.

He did not specify a timeframe for implementation of the proposal, which was being fleshed out. “A lot of work will be required before it is implemented. There are good people working on this. If this becomes meaningful then we will look at going ahead with this,” he said.

He may come up against opposition from industry. Rahul Bajaj, chairman of Bajaj Auto and Rajya Sabha member, said, “I am not in favour of any mandatory reservation in the private sector.”

On the other hand, he said, all economically backward people should be included as well. “The government’s policies for “affirmative action” should not be restricted to only ST/SC people but may be extended to all below the poverty line,” he said.

Mohandas Pai, Infosys human resource head, said, “At Infosys we have employed 450 socially backward people… However our experience is that the government has not kept its promises.”

Pai said the government was merely passing the buck to the private sector. “It needs to invest adequately in training people. This is not happening.”

Bajaj believed the government must not take a unilateral decision. “It should consult various stakeholders, including industry associations, for deciding the meaning or definition of ‘affirmative action’,” he said.

Amit Mitra, Ficci secretary general, asked the government to take a “constructive approach” and not force affirmative action on companies, as it could send out a wrong message to the global community. “India is aspiring to compete with the rest of the world, and if employees have to reveal their castes, then it could have major ramifications,” he said.