As the debate on extending reservation for OBCs rages on, the government today admitted its failure to enforce 3 per cent reservation in public sector jobs for the disabled.Addressing a CII conference on Disability Mainstreaming the marginalised, Minister of State for Industry Ashwani Kumar said that though the legislation for reserving jobs for the disabled was passed almost 10 years ago, it has not been followed on the ground. ‘‘We confirm to affirmative action and abide by it but regret not meeting the 3 per cent quota in public sector jobs for the disabled,’’ he said.Kumar added that the present government will do all it can to restore some parity on the issue and there will be a renewed thrust in this regard. ‘‘The State should pro-actively and positively impact the disabled and bring the marginalised to the mainstream. Further the private sector should also now open up in this regard and ensure that the disabled are not left out of the loop,’’ Kumar said adding that the thrust on affirmative action should not be construed as a compulsion but a lot can be achieved by voluntary action.Earlier Chairman of CII’s core group on disability Sujit Gupta pointed out that currently less than 1 per cent of the employable disabled are employed in the country. ‘‘Figures speak for themselves and the disabled comprise only 0.54 per cent in public sector, 0.28 per cent in private sector and 0.05 per cent in MNCs,’’ Gupta said.Disabled account for almost 7 per cent of the total population today and Gupta added that wherever corporate code on disability has been applied with the backing of the CEO, it has proved to be a success.‘‘We have prepared a roadmap for three years and set a target that 3 per cent of the workforce in the country should comprise of the disabled by the end of the third year,’’ Gupta added. CII which has 5000 corporate entities as members employing over 5 million has adopted the corporate code on disability and will try to enforce it amongst its members.
