The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) today asked the industry to set time bound targets for implementation of affirmative action for employment of SCs and STs in the private sector. The Prime ministers Office has also directed the Commerce Ministry to build a database for clarity on figures of affirmative action taken to empower the weaker sections of the society. An official statement said, the PMO reviewed progress on the issue at a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Pulok Chatterjee and attended by representatives of chambers FICCI, CII and ASSOCHAM besides various ministries. It was noted that some progress had been made in adopting the Voluntary Code of Conduct and running skill development and vocation education programs to improve the employability of weaker sections.

The meeting decided to enhance the initiatives to empower the SC / STs and scale up activities and coverage for there to be a visible impact and recognition of the ongoing efforts. Referring to the actions taken by the three chambers, the PMO noted that a lot of effort is being made but it is still sporadic and scattered. The statement added that it was suggested that each industry chamber could work out a five-year vision voluntarily to guide the annual action plans in the long term.

It was decided in the meeting that the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion would set up a system to collect quarterly data from the three chambers and build a database on Affirmative Action for SCs/STs.