Social kind of justice

Transcription

1 Participants at the workshop on affirmative action, the first of its kind organised by the Tata group Social kind of justice A just society is one where there is social, political and economic equality, says Dr Mohan Gopal, director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies. Dr Gopal, an eminent jurist and an academic, was speaking at the Tata group s first residential workshop on affirmative action, which he sees as a cornerstone of the cause he is championing, and a just cause it is too. Affirmative action could be defined as a policy designed to redress past discrimination against groups of people on the basis of race, caste, gender, etc through measures to improve their economic and educational opportunities. The Tata group s affirmative action agenda is aimed at doing its bit to correct the discrimination blight as it applies to India, and that means the caste factor. The two-day deliberations at the Northpoint Learning Centre in Khandala near Mumbai focused on the way forward for the affirmative action initiative of the Tata group and its companies. The participants enthusiastic champions of the cause and in-house assessors of the initiative from several Tata companies shared best practices, reviewed the work done so far and drafted plans for what remained to be accomplished. The Tata group has, over the years, helped lift various disadvantaged communities, including scheduled caste and scheduled tribes, through initiatives such as Tata Steel s tribal welfare programmes and projects supported by the Tata trusts. These activities predate the group s June 2012 Tata Review 35

2 affirmative action programmes of recent years. The genesis of the current industry-wide movement was a commitment made by 20 noted industrialists, including Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata, in May 2005, to partner the government in enabling youth from scheduled caste and tribe communities to realise their potential. In April 2006, India s Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, also called upon Indian industry to actively engage in affirmative action. TIME-BOUND EFFORT A further impetus was provided in the summer of 2006, when Dr JJ Irani, a former director of Tata Sons, led a task force on affirmative action for the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), committing Indian companies to time-bound initiatives for greater inclusion of people from the scheduled castes and tribes. It was proposed that the thrust of these initiatives should be in what was referred to as the 4Es: education, employability, employment and entrepreneurship. In October 2006, the Tata Group Affirmative Action Forum was created, headed by Dr Irani, to catalyse the programme in Tata companies. The forum, currently headed by Tata Steel vice chairman B Muthuraman and comprising top Tata executives, is responsible for implementing what is known as the Tata Group Affirmative Action Policy. The forum encourages Tata companies to offer employment opportunities to scheduled caste and scheduled tribe members, by exercising positive discrimination in their policies on the 4Es, and to do so without compromising on merit, quality or cost. In line with this approach, most Tata initiatives in the area of affirmative action are concentrated on employment and entrepreneurial opportunities, positive discrimination in recruitment (provided everything else is equal), and the development of skills among the marginalised. Several Tata companies also consciously select vendors from scheduled caste and tribe communities. With affirmative action gaining momentum in the Tata group, the forum has introduced an annual assessment and recognition programme that takes into account leadership and strategy, the achievements of the 4Es programmes conducted by the company, and their social impact. Speaking at the workshop, Dr Gopal expressed his appreciation for the Tata group s affirmative action efforts and said: I hope that what you are doing will become a model for the world. GOING BEYOND JOBS Pradeep Bhargava, chairman of the CII western region council, head of its affirmative action committee and managing director of Cummins Generator Technologies, spoke about how the industry body has been taking a proactive approach, stressing the importance of going beyond providing opportunities to creating an inclusive environment for the targeted communities. Group discussions at the workshop highlighted challenges and deliberated on proposals to step up the momentum of the affirmative action movement within the Tata group. There was particular emphasis on the need to create awareness about the campaign among Tata employees and to create a greater sense of ownership. Also highlighted was the need for all Tata companies to incorporate and articulate a robust affirmative action strategy, with a dedicated budget allocation to back it up. WEBSITE SUGGESTION One of the suggestions that received widespread support was for the creation of a dedicated website for the cause, where companies, nonprofits and government agencies could share relevant information on affirmative action, including details of initiatives and best practices. Such a website, it was noted, would help align initiatives by various Tata group entities, build synergies with government schemes and even establish links with vendors and other associates. In his address at the workshop, Mr Muthuraman expressed his satisfaction at the progress made by Tata companies in taking forward the cause of positive discrimination. Supporting a suggestion made by several participants for a website dedicated to the cause, he urged everyone to work towards establishing more skill development centres for marginalised communities over the next three to four years. I want to make sure that the Tata group creates a benchmark for affirmative action, said Mr Muthuraman. I am extremely happy to be here and delighted that we are taking these steps. Jai MadanI 36 Tata Review June 2012

3 We should not impede the vision of our constitution He has spent a lifetime poring over issues of justice and jurisprudence, but Dr G Mohan Gopal still remains, at heart, a student of the law and a believer in the wisdom and the vision of India s constitution. These perspectives inform the views and values of the director of the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Contemporary Studies, New Delhi. An academic of high standing, Dr Gopal is an alumnus of Harvard Law School, where he also completed his doctoral studies, and has worked with the World Bank and many Indian government organisations in a variety of capacities. In this interview with Christabelle Noronha, he speaks about the logic and the necessity of programmes, based on caste, for sure, but also on gender, religion and region. How real is the danger of social and economic inequality undermining India s growth agenda? Social and economic inequality is clearly one of the major threats to sustained economic growth, and this inequality is among the most, if not the most, critical threats to the well-being of India. As a country, we must see growth as an instrument and not as a goal. We have to put growth in the right perspective and the way to start on this is to look for answers in India s constitution, in the mission of our republic. Our republic was established not to pursue and achieve high levels of growth but to secure June 2012 Tata Review 37

4 I think that s what India, too, will do. But I believe this can be managed without sacrificing growth. Unlike in the 18 th and 19 th centuries, we have a world today that is far more sensitive to issues such as social justice, equality and sustainable development. The United Nations has just adopted a set of guidelines on the applicability of human rights standards to the private sector and businesses. It is an important set of principles. There is almost no option for India but to pursue growth in a manner that is compatible with the interests and concerns of its poorest and most excluded people, and not exclusively cater to creating more wealth for its already wealthy citizens. India needs to provide an equal voice to all of its people justice for all. That means we have to adopt strategies that promote equality, justice, liberty and fraternity. The challenge here is to ensure that equitable growth takes place. Can this kind of outlook result in economic setbacks for the country? Clearly, you cannot look at the progress of a country only in terms of its growth rate. Consider the United States, which emerged from colonial rule as an independent nation in the latter half of the 18 th century. Less than a century later, when it was doing quite well economically, it was confronted by the issue of slavery. The country fought a civil war to end slavery in which a significant proportion of its population was killed and plenty of resources destroyed. If you had asked the question in 1857, when the civil war began, whether it would be a setback from an economic standpoint, the answer would have been yes. But America was prepared to fight a civil war to secure the freedom and equality of a small number of African-American slaves. What that country was actually doing was laying a strong foundation for social justice. Are you in favour of private sector affirmative action programmes, where jobs are reserved for people from the scheduled castes and the scheduled tribes? Speaking only for myself, yes, I am very much in favour of reservations in the private sector. The principal economic opportunity we have created for the scheduled castes and tribes of India is in education and employment. The opportunity for entrepreneurship, given the social reality in this country, is still limited. Because of economic reforms, opportunities for public sector employment are declining and the government itself, along with the private sector, has posited that the private sector is the main engine for the growth of employment opportunities. I think it is necessary to be aware of the social discrimination that people from the scheduled castes and tribes face. We have to ensure that these people do not have to suffer discrimination in an economy where the private sector is going to be the main generator of employment. It is essential, in the circumstances, to set aside a due share of employment opportunities for people from the scheduled castes and tribes. We must not forget that, as per the 2001 census, the scheduled castes and tribes of India add up to 240 million people (180 million from the scheduled castes and 60 million from the scheduled tribes). Based on these figures and 38 Tata Review June 2012

5 the numbers would have increased substantially by now they would have been, if they were part of a separate country, the fourth largest nation in the world. It is vital, then, to ensure that these people get their due share in the new economic order; we need to make a conscious effort to do this through programmes of affirmative action such as the one the Tata group is trying to put in place and expand. Where do you think India features, as of now, on any index of development and social justice? There is not a single industrial or so-called developed country in the world that has not had a significant experience of revolutionary change for social justice. Whether it is Europe with its social revolutions of the 15 th and 16 th centuries, the United States in the 17 th and 18 th centuries, Japan, South Korea, China and others, the foundation for sustained economic growth and economic well-being has been social justice. India will not be able to bypass this experience. India stands relatively low on the index of social justice, particularly in the context of gender and caste, because we have, as we all know, the largest number of excluded and marginalised people in the world. But at the same time, the India of today through its constitutional democracy, through the essential messages of its freedom movement is in a much better position than any other country ever has been in terms of having a platform for social change and revolution that is constitutional and peaceful. The main challenge here is to let the constitutional processes take their own course. We should not impede the social vision of the Constitution of India or undermine it. If this social vision is implemented in good faith, the result will be a peaceful and constitutional social change. But if we continue to attack the constitutional vision for social justice, then I think we will jeopardise everything, including growth. Do you see the emergence of a sociocultural revolution through violence? There is not a single industrial or so-called developed country in the world that has not I think there is a distinct possibility that India will sink into a violent struggle for social change, where authoritarian forces will seek to suppress the need and demand for social change and, on the other hand, violent forces will take advantage of the need for social change, the demand for social change, and exploit this for their own purposes. The Naxalite violence we are witnessing is a harbinger of what can happen. One explanation for why such violence takes place is the failure of development, or the lack of its capacity to deliver. But that is only a symptom. Why is it that we cannot deliver with development? The reason is social injustice and the continued discrimination against those who are excluded. Unless we can provide an equal voice to all our people, regardless of their current economic or social station in life, we will cease to be a functioning democracy. We must recognise that a lot of the violence that is going on is because of our failure, at the most basic level, to address the social injustices that prevail in our country. What role do you see industry bodies and the private sector playing to change this reality? There is a lot of concern now in India that corporate entities are predatory towards natural resources, towards the poor and towards the vision of our constitution. There seems to be an excessive need to acquire wealth; this has to change. Economic growth has to be seen as an instrument that helps improve the welfare and well-being of all Indians, not just of the minority that happens to be in positions of power. Democracy means having to accept decisions that may not be conducive in all ways June 2012 Tata Review 39

6 to achieving corporate growth and objectives. But corporations are subordinate to the overall social, economic and political goals set by this country through its constitution; they must accept and work through those mechanisms that are granted by the constitution to achieve their goals. Corporate houses should be concerned about the increasing inequality of wealth and consumption that is being seen in India today. They should be much more sensitive about how they distribute the benefits of the wealth they generate to shareholders, management, and the general public; they need to be much more sensitive towards the poor, particularly in relation to natural resources and land; and they must strive to build a consensus around how to develop and implement their commercial strategies, rather than use the power of the state to ram their interests down the throats of the common people of this country. The affirmative action initiative by corporate India is this merely to change perceptions or do you see it as something more substantial? For some it is sincere, as I believe it is for the Tata group. For some it may be more of a sales or brand-enhancing effort, but that can be true of any human activity. I would like to think that many in the corporate leadership rung are, equally, citizens committed to the welfare of India. Are minority communities likely to benefit from such affirmative action initiatives? I don t know the answer to that, honestly speaking, because I don t have the data, but we need to bring minority communities within the category of groups that benefit from reservation. The ideal would be, in my opinion, to have corporate affirmative action that aims at inclusive development and engages in positive discrimination for minorities and gender as well. That makes for affirmative action on three fronts: caste, gender and religion. And I would put in a fourth category: region. We have to be careful not to fall into the trap of having imbalanced regional development. How important are societal attitudes in the success of affirmative action programmes? I think they are crucial. The whole need for affirmative action arises from social prejudice, which, in turn, comes from false and wrong notions of superiority and differences. Unless we are able to change and address these underlying social prejudices, affirmative action alone will not change anything. So even if someone becomes economically successful, the prejudice against the community to which he or she belongs will not necessarily disappear. What should the government do, in terms of policies and legislation, to promote affirmative action in India? We need to, first of all, establish a clear law on the right to equality and the right not to be discriminated against. We can then move towards developing a consensus on affirmative action policies in the private sector. It will require a lot of dialogue and consultation to establish legal standards across the country, but this is a huge new agenda and we have to pursue it, push for it. How do we go beyond divisions and create a unified nation, or is this too much to expect? There is a constant battle that rages between asserting differences for our selfish ends and recognising the obvious truth that we are one species and, essentially, one people. What we ought to do is constantly engage with this struggle and refute and deny attempts by people who create differences in order to exploit what are finite resources. Ultimately that s what this is all about: a fight to get control of finite resources. It is for this purpose that some people create all these divisions and subdue other human beings. The rest of us have to fight back and defang all these ideas and ideologies that are employed to weaken and divide us from one another. 40 Tata Review June 2012

7 We need to do more Pradeep Bhargava, managing director of Cummins India and chairman of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), western region, minces no words when he says that corporate India has not done enough on to Sangeeta Menon on the especially in a time when the How important is it for a group like the Tatas to adopt the cause of affirmative action? It is important for every business group to do so, not because it s a nice thing to do but because it makes business sense. How can we leave 25 percent of our population out of the mainstream? How can we not recruit them? How can we exclude the incredible potential that this diversity brings? We are not doing anyone a favour by going this way; we are only doing ourselves a favour. We need an environment that has equilibrium and inclusivity. We cannot outsource this issue to the government; industry needs to take ownership of this. The Tata group picks agendas which it genuinely believes in. From the CII perspective, I want the Tatas do more in this area because then we can ask others to emulate them. Does Indian industry recognise the need for affirmative action? Rather than wasting time discussing reservations, June 2012 Tata Review 41

8 I am hoping we can get our act together as an industry, before the government steps in we must recognise that this is a social and not a political issue. It s an economic issue, an industrial issue, an issue of development. Most industries do not discuss the idea of positive discrimination with intensity. They will all say that they are not against scheduled caste and tribe candidates and many have also signed the CII code of conduct; but they won t proactively do something about affirmative action. They want the government to take responsibility. We need to do a lot more; we need to adopt positive discrimination. We must realise that although there is a quota system in the public sector, the government itself is becoming less of an employer because new investment and employment opportunities in the government is decreasing. Most economic and investment growth, and hence employment growth, is now in the private sector. Consequently, what the government can do is limited. This has to be the private sector s responsibility. The CII-Symbiosis Finishing School was your brainchild. What success has this initiative achieved in the five years since its launch? The CII started the school in collaboration with Symbiosis College in 2007, offering third-year students from engineering colleges in Pune 60 hours of training in skills that would help them in personality development, enhance their soft skills and self-confidence. They already had the required vocational skills; we just made them confident, smart individuals. These kids had been denied opportunities and put on the back foot for so long that we needed to help them believe that they could do it. The first batch at the school had 30 students; since then more than 20 batches have been coached at Symbiosis alone. This model is being replicated in other cities also. In 2010, we started working with the ITIs, this time not just to support children from scheduled caste and tribe communities but all economically challenged kids. Industry came forward to offer a 30-hour training programme to enhance skills such as facing interviews, conversation, language, articulation and so on. We now have seven such ITIs in Pune. We encourage companies to employ these youth, too. But once they have been through the coaching, they become such confident individuals that they are able to find placements on their own. We have also created video films of these courses, which we send across to areas our faculty cannot reach. How do we deal with the challenge of the double discrimination of gender as well as caste or tribe that women from marginalised communities face? Both initiatives must happen concurrently. We need to encourage women to enter the workplace and we must encourage women from the marginalised communities to join the workforce. We must encourage gender diversity. A lot of women, irrespective of socioeconomic background or caste, have been treated unfairly. We must remove the gender bias first. We must create an environment that is inclusive. It is not enough to just have the numbers. What s the road map for affirmative action in Indian industry? My hope is that more companies will step forward like the Tatas, Cummins, Godrej and Thermax, which are focused on the affirmative action agenda. At Cummins, for example, we lay special emphasis on gender diversity. Since most of the growth as well as employment opportunities today are in the services sector, more companies from this sector must adopt the cause of affirmative action. Are you optimistic about the future of affirmative action? I am hoping we get our act together as an industry, before the government steps in and makes affirmative action mandatory for the private sector. It s in our interest to do it voluntarily. 42 Tata Review June 2012