CPI State secretary Kanam Rajendran has supported the demand for reservation in the private sector and in semi-government companies.
Opening an event to mark the 125th anniversary of the famous ‘Villuvandi Yatra’ of social reformer Ayyankali here on Sunday, he said that job opportunities were dwindling in the public sector, while the opposite was the case in the private sector.
In such a scenario, there was a need to give opportunities to the deprived sections of society in the private sector. Steps such as these would go a long way in realising the dreams of reformers such as Ayyankali, he said.
Corporate influence
“This is an age of greedy capitalism. Corporate forces and private finance capital are tightening their grip on the country. The Union government is trying to remove the benefits of reservation,” Mr. Rajendran said.
The job opportunities in public sector companies were coming down. Even Indian Railways, the largest employer in the country, too had not been spared. The concept of permanent job itself was getting vanished, he said. Recalling the contributions of Ayyankali, Mr. Rajendran said that he was one of the first to start a fight for upholding the rights of the oppressed. He believed that rights had to be snatched using collective might. The Villuvandi Yatra was part of the struggle to ensure the right of the depressed sections to use public roads. Ayyankali also fought for their right for education and to wear clothes, he added.