New Delhi: Industry today (Sep 3, 2004) opposed Government's proposal for providing reservations in the private sector terming it as an "anti-industrialisation" move which will lead to reduction in jobs.

Citing high school dropout rates among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes and pathetic condition of Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), it instead favoured "affirmative actions with incentivisation".

"Nowhere in the world there is reservation in the private sector. We oppose it as the move is against industrialisation and will lead to reduction in jobs," Ficci president Y K Modi said in New Delhi.

Releasing a study on the subject by Ficci, he said Government should not force private sector units to compulsorily reserve jobs for SCs and STs.

Instead, it can offer substantive incentives like tax breaks and preference in Government procurement to business enterprises that have certain prescribed degree of representation of the disadvantaged communities in their workforce.

The chamber's secretary general Amit Mitra said curriculum of ITIs should be restructured to bring it in line with the requirements of the industry.

Modi said the ITIs were churning out a workforce who often did not meet the skill demands of the industry and the latter was willing to partner with the Government to rectify the situation.

"Government and private sector together need to draw up a definite plan on human scale upgradation for SCs and STs," he added.