“Don’t Underestimate The Power of Education”

Union minister of welfare and social justice, Mukul Wasnik, has heard about the new Dalit crorepati club and met a couple of its members but steers clear of speaking much about them. Instead, he spells out his government’s agenda for scheduled castes. Excerpts:

What do you think of the Dalit crorepati club?

They are examples of people who have done well by embracing the opportunities that came their way. I hope they serve as role models and I think opportunities must be made available to SC entrepreneurs so that avenues open in the industry for more of them to join.

For the last three years, the government has left it to the industry to implement affirmative action. But numbers are hard to come by. It is evident that the industry is fighting shy of it.

It is a part of corporate social responsibility to make the workplace more inclusive. It was the chambers of industry which decided on voluntarily implementing affirmative action. But real affirmative action must be visible to all. So far, it is not. We expect things to improve.

Do you think the state should start thinking of leadership schemes for the oppressed while ensuring that money meant for welfare is actually spent?

We should not underestimate the power of education to emancipate people from the bottom of the social order. To this end we have increased the allocation for post-matric scholarships by 60 per cent now. We have to emphasise on education as dropouts among SC/STs are a matter of concern. So, besides scholarship schemes and grant in aid to voluntary organisations as well as scholarships to the brightest of the poor, there are other policies being looked at for greater engagement with entrepreneurs from the oppressed classes.