two more for the creamy layer

the ministry of steel is one better than the department of fertilizers: it can boast of two obcs of the creamy layer kind and not a measly one!

check the annual report (2006-07, the latest) of the ministry of steel (pages 50-54), government of india: of the 151 group (a) and (b) officers in the ministry, only two are obcs.

and the rest of the (chapter IX) of the report, which deals with 'welfare of weaker sections of society', tells you how creative babus, who everyone presumes lead such dull lives, can be. and also reveals the depth of the great contempt the managing babus of these companies have for reservations policies in general, and for the reserved classes in particular: of the nine psus the ministry controls, only four give you the actual number of obcs they employ, of which only two list out the group-wise numbers of employees!
here's an overview:

* s.a.i.l: employs 1,35,028 people, of whom nearly 61,000 are group (a) and (b) officers. and how many of those officers are obcs? the steel giant doesn't seem to have heard of the obcs. the dalits and adivasis are there, but significantly underrepresented.

* rashtriya ispat nigam ltd (r.i.n.l): employs 16,453 people, of whom around 6,100 are group (a) and (b) officers. how many are obcs? the company seems to have already started implementing the sachar committee recommendations: it lists 'minority' representation in employment but mentions no obcs. seems to have heard of them only recently because it talks about recruiting 6 obc employees in the group (c) category (not creamy layer) in 2006-07- yes, thirteen years after the supreme court discovered the creamy layer.

* kudremukh iron ore company ltd (k.i.o.c.l): employs 1548 people, of whom 219 are obcs. no mention of group-wise employment.

* national mineral development corporation (n.m.d.c): employs 5,532 people, of whom 2,000 (approx.,) are group (a) and (b) officers. obcs? finally, we notice their presence- 153 (out total 2,000, approx., officers) of them are group (a) and (b) officers (or 7.65% of all officers).

* manganese ore (india) ltd (m.o.i.l): mentions no numbers at all! but 'has undertaken several measures for the welfare of sc/st/obc section of society such as: a) adoption of tribal villages, b) training in sericulture for economic development), c) help to the schools insurrounding mines' etc.,

* bird group of companies: mentions only percentages and no figures. says 11% of its employees are obcs. how many of them are group (a) and (b) officers? if the company liked the figures, why would it hide behind percentages?

* mstc ltd: mentions both figures and percentages. it employs 301 people, of whom 254 are group (a) and (b) officers. how many are obcs? 18 (7% of total number of officers).

* sponge iron india ltd (s.i.i.l): mentions neither figures nor percentages. nor obcs.

* mecon ltd: employs 1,618 people, of whom 132 are obcs. how many of them are group (a) and (b) officers? doesn't list out group-wise figures.

forget the creamy layer, do you even get any sense that such a people as the obcs are actually a part of this country from the above listing of facts?

i'd talked of the babus who manage these companies, and their contempt for reservations policies earlier: do you see it now? sixty years after reservations for the sc/sts came into effect, some of these companies do not even bother to mention how many dalits and adivasis they employ! and the figures they do mention, many times, are obviously not very credible. many dalit activists have written about and agitated against the fudging of facts and figures by government ministries, departments and psus at many levels. do you understand their frustration now? transparency? who can force these babus to be more transparent? the government couldn't make their kids budge off the aiims grounds for weeks. corporate social responsibility? oh yes, most of these companies' websites have long pages devoted to it.

and to think that the lower castes too paid for the investments that built these companies.