Its fingers singed firefighting the 27% OBC quota controversy, the government has decided to avoid picking up the other much larger hot potato—the Group of Ministers’ report on job reservations in the private sector.

On May 18, the GoM, led by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar and set up in September 2004, sent its report to the Cabinet Secretariat that the Constitution needs to be amended to bring this about. It also admitted that a decision was beyond the GoM since it was such a sensitive issue and the allies needed to be brought into the loop.

On May 28, the Cabinet Secretariat returned this GoM report to the Ministry of Social Justice, effectively delaying its consideration by the Cabinet.

The reason, according to a government note: the Prime Minister’s office has asked the Ministry to “revise the present note, keeping in view the recent development.”

That’s an apparent reference to the current quota debate and the decision to implement it along with seat upgrade in Central institutions.

On several occasions, the Prime Minister has called for “voluntary action” by the corporate sector on affirmative action rather than imposing quotas. But given the charged political climate in the wake of the OBC debate, the government has chosen not to open a new can of worms—at least for now.

Senior government sources said that now the GoM report can be sent to the Cabinet only after the Prime Minister’s views are considered as well. Sources said it’s not clear who will make the changes or what kind of changes will be made.

... contd.