New Delhi: In an apparent reference to the riots of 2002 in Gujarat, Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said India cannot be built as a strong nation if institutions of governance discriminate against sections of the society.

"This country will hold together only if we give everyone in India a stake in the future of India. We cannot build an inclusive society, unless every institution of governance consciously sheds its biases and prejudices that work for every section of the people," Chidambaram said at "Entrepreneurial Summit" here.

"There were riots in a city in one of the states of India a few years ago. We found to our great dismay that people on two-wheelers, in cars, joining other looters to loot shops. Why would anyone who owns a car or a two-wheeler join looters to loot shops," he said.

Each one of us must be conscious that we are born with biases and prejudices, which show up at the most unexpected times, he said. The finance minister said most institutions have an in-built bias and if the surface is scratched most human beings also have underlined biases.

If vast sections of the society feel alienated, India cannot be built as a strong nation, he said. He said the Sachar Committee has brought out that muslims are clearly a disadvantaged group. "So are dalits, so are scheduled tribes," he added.

Chidambaram did not take the name of Gujarat directly in his speech.

Source : PTI