At a time when the government and the Indian industry have locked horns over reservation for backward castes and classes in the private sector, an emerging trend in India’s upcoming Special Economic Zones could show the way for effective and voluntary “affirmative action.” That’s one conclusion of an unprecedented caste-wise survey by the Union Commerce Ministry of SEZ employees.

While the complete data on the 40,000 shop-floor workers employed in the 18 operational SEZs is being put together, numbers from two SEZs in Andhra Pradesh are in. Obtained by The Sunday Express, these show that beyond attracting investment, these zones are creating employment opportunities which are both “local and inclusive.”

In the two sector-specific SEZs of Gitanjali Gems and Brandix Textiles, 80-85 per cent of the employees are from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs). A majority of them have education up to the Class X level.

Speaking to The Sunday Express, Commerce Secretary Gopal K Pillai, who recently visited some of the operational SEZs in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu said, “There is more to Special Economic Zones than land acquisition, alleged scams and revenue losses. To judge the actual impact of the SEZs, one has to look at the actual ground realities.”

For instance, at the country’s largest gems and jewellery SEZ set up by Gitanjali Gems at Ranga Reddy district in Andhra Pradesh, of the 700 women and 300 men undergoing training currently, nearly 6% belong to Scheduled Tribes, 23% to Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 58% come from Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The SEZ is expected to hire nearly 5,000 employees over the next year.

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