in pvt sectorPatna, Nov 17 (PTI) Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumartoday favoured reservation in the private sector and calledfor a "meaningful" national debate on the introduction of ajob quota in the non-governmental areas where the employmentopportunities were growing fast.
"Employment opportunities are growing far more in theprivate sector. Therefore, it is essential to have ameaningful debate on introducing reservation in this sector,"he said at a function here.
"A job quota will provide an equal opportunity to themarginalised sections of the society," the JD(U) chief said,replying to a query while taking part in the "Rising Bihar2017", a programme organised by a private television channel.
"A balanced growth of all sections of the society is anideal enshrined in the Constitution. Reservation is one of themany ways through which we try to achieve that," Kumar, whoserecent decision to introduce reservations in outsourcedservices has been widely talked about, said.
Earlier, delivering his speech, the chief minister said,"The migration of workers from Bihar is not a sign of anyshortcoming. People have the capacity to work and hence, theytravel to all parts of the country, seeking the best possibleremuneration for their skills, which is also theirconstitutional right.
"What our government is trying to do is provide them withbetter opportunities back home, so that they are in a strongerposition to bargain in the job market."Replying to another query, Kumar who is running the Bihargovernment in alliance with the BJP, said he did not see thesaffron party facing "any difficulty" in retaining power inGujarat in next month's Assembly polls in that state.
"We must not forget that the prime minister hails fromthat state (Gujarat). It is a sentiment which will influencethe voters' choice. We may even see the BJP winning a highernumber of seats this time than it did in the 2012 Assemblypolls," he said.
Asked whether his joining the BJP-led NDA had notdiminished his prospects of emerging as a prime ministerialcandidate in the 2019 general election, the national presidentof the Janata Dal (United) said, "I never thought of myself asa contender for that post. This was only a media speculation,aimed at creating a sensation." PTI NAC SNSRC.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.