Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday defended his government's decision to introduce reservation in outsourced services, and said those criticising it have "very little understanding" of the issue.
He asserted that the provision, which some ruling alliance leaders have also found fault with, was brought in accordance with the Bihar Reservation Act 2003.
As per the act, Kumar said, if the government hires somebody for its work, even if through an outsourcing company, and pays salary from its coffers, then the quota system prevailing in the state will apply.
If we (the government) award a contract to somebody for undertaking a work, then the contractor will not be bound by quota policy since he will be hiring and he will be paying... But, in case of outsourced services availed of by the government, the rules will obviously be different... People who are raising a hue and cry over the issue, have a very little understanding (of it).Nitish Kumar, Bihar CM
Speaking on the sidelines of his weekly 'Lok Samvad' (public interaction) programme at his 1 Anne Marg residence, Kumar also dismissed charges that the proposal, cleared by the cabinet last week, was an attempt to introduce reservation in private sector through back door policies.
He, however, said, “we in principle” favour reservation in private sector too.
"But, for that, parliament has to take initiative in accordance with provisions of the Constitution." He also said he did not believe in "too much outsourcing", as "often, outsourced employees form their own associations to press the demand for regularisation".
"But when it is not possible, outsourcing must not become an excuse to deprive employees of reservation benefits," he added.
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav targeted Kumar over his remarks, saying it was not a new idea and that the state has seen little private investment.
Yadav, however, said his party is not against the idea of reservation in the private sector.
We are also in favour of reservations in the private sector, but this is not a new demand. Mayawati had raised similar demands and so had Ram Vilas Paswan.Lalu Prasad Yadav
The RJD leader, who was speaking on the sidelines of a party function, took a dig at the Chief Minister and said the state had barely seen industrial growth in the past few years, hence the question of reservation in private sector did not hold significance. He said:
Where is the private sector in the state? Has there been any investment, any factories? Did anyone set up a company here?
Former Speaker of state Assembly, and senior JD(U) leader Uday Narayan Choudhary, has spoken against Kumar’s decision to introduce reservation in outsourced services .
Choudhary, who has launched a non-political forum, Vanchit Varg Morcha, is organising a discussion on reservation on 10 November in Patna, during which former Union minister Yashwant Sinha will be a key speaker. Sinha has been critical of the NDA government's economic policy.
Rajya Sabha member from BJP CP Thakur had, last week, questioned the decision, saying it may lead to public resentment and a drop in investment in the state.
Kumar said,on Monday, "I would like to remind everybody that this is not the first-of-its-kind experiment that we have undertaken in Bihar."
In 2006, the state government had recruited a large number of ex-army personnel (in Special Auxiliary Police force) to make up for the shortfall of policemen in the state, and reservation was in place in their case also, Kumar said.
Reservation benefits to outsourced employees will be on the same lines as to the regular ones, wherein quotas have been earmarked for SCs, STs, OBCs, women etc, he said.
"Then there is also horizontal reservation – for Divyangs (physically handicapped) or children of ex-servicemen."
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