Gadkari on quotas: Where are the jobs?
Union minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday said that hankering after reservations in jobs will not help because employment opportunities in the country were shrinking rapidly.
“Even if reservation is given, there are no jobs. Jobs in banks have shrunk because of information technology. Government recruitment is frozen,” he said in response to a query on the ongoing quota agitation by the Maratha community.
Gadkari said that the ‘backward’ tag has become something that most communities across the country want to claim.
“Everyone says I am backward. Brahmins in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh are strong, and (they) dominate politics too. But even they say they are backward,” he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader suggested that reservations be accorded on the basis of people’s economic standards. “Whatever may be the religion or caste, all communities have people without clothes to wear or food to eat. One school of thought says that we must also consider the poorest of the poor in every community,” Gadkari said.
The Union minister clarified that his statements on reservations amounted to “socio-economic thinking”, and must not be politicised.
He added that Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis was trying to resolve the Maratha agitation through negotiations, and urged the people to maintain peace. “Parties must also act responsibly and not add fuel to the fire,” the Union minister said. He added that development, industrialisation and good prices for rural produce will help ease the Maratha community’s economic distress in the months to come.