2006年VOA标准英语-Indian Government Wants Private-Sector Job

By Anjana Pasricha
Bagkok
23 April 2006
 

Congress President Sonia Gandhi, center, gives a job card to a villager, second left, during the inauguration¹ of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program at Bandlapalli
(File photo - Feb. 2, 2006)   
  
The Indian government is contemplating² measures to provide more jobs for the country's lower castes and disadvantaged groups in the booming private sector³. The proposal has kicked off a massive controversy⁴ in Indian industry.

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At a recent seminar organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry in New Delhi, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called on business leaders to enlarge job opportunities for the lower castes and other underprivileged groups.

"I urge you to assess the diversity in your employee profile and commit yourself voluntarily to making it more broad based and representative of our nation at large," he said.

The prime minister was referring to a pledge made by his government when it came to power two years ago to reserve jobs for the lower castes and other disadvantaged groups in the thriving private sector.

For centuries, "Dalits" or untouchables were at the bottom of India's caste system, which divides society into groups based on occupation. Many Dalits, members of other lower castes and India's ethnic⁵ tribal⁶ groups remain mired⁷ in poverty.

India already has quotas⁸ for these groups in educational institutions and public sector jobs to help bring about social equality.

But this is the first time that the government is asking the private sector to participate. So far it has pushed for voluntary affirmative action by business leaders. But the government warns that it will introduce legislation for quotas if the private sector fails to respond.

Industry leaders have staunchly criticized the move, saying quotas kill merit and hamper⁹ competitiveness. They say any such move will be a setback¹⁰ to industries that are learning to compete in a global economy.

The country's top businessmen say they are ready to give training and scholarships to the poor, but jobs must be given on merit alone.

The controversial proposal has reignited debate on the benefit of quotas.

Supporters say reserving jobs and seats in educational institutions is necessary to improve conditions for the lower castes, because poverty and centuries-old discriminatory practices prevent them scaling the economic ladder.

Critics say quotas do little to improve conditions for disadvantaged groups, and have denounced the idea of private sector job quotas as a political measure to win votes.

P.V. Indiresan, a former director of the prestigious¹¹ Indian Institute of Technology in Chennai, accuses the government of failing to provide good quality primary and secondary schools for the lower castes so that they can compete in the open market for jobs.

"All political parties without exception have found out that so long as people are poor and illiterate¹² they vote in large blocs¹³, they become vote banks. Once they are educated their vote gets splintered among various groups. So there is a vested interest among the politicians not to educate people," he noted¹⁴.

Since coming to power, the Congress-led government has introduced a controversial law requiring private schools to reserve more than 20 percent of seats for the lower castes and other poor groups. It also proposes nearly doubling the number of seats reserved for these groups in the country's premier¹⁵ engineering and management universities.

The lower castes make up about one-quarter of the country's population. Other socially and economically disadvantaged groups add up to another quarter.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 contemplating   

深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想

参考例句：

• You're too young to be contemplating retirement. 你考虑退休还太年轻。
• She stood contemplating the painting. 她站在那儿凝视那幅图画。

3 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

6 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

7 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 quotas   

（正式限定的）定量( quota的名词复数 )； 定额； 指标； 摊派

参考例句：

• In fulfilling the production quotas, John made rings round all his fellow workers. 约翰完成生产定额大大超过他的同事们。
• Quotas of the means of production are allocated by the higher administrative bodies to the lower ones. 物资指标按隶属关系分配。

9 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

10 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

11 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

12 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

13 blocs   

n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The division of Europe into warring blocs produces ever-increasing centrifugal stress. 把欧洲分为作战集团产生了越来越大的离心效果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The policy of the two blocs was played out. 把世界分为两个集团的政策已经过时了。 来自辞典例句

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 premier   

adj.首要的；n.总理，首相

参考例句：

• The Irish Premier is paying an official visit to Britain.爱尔兰总理正在对英国进行正式访问。
• He requested that the premier grant him an internview.他要求那位总理接见他一次。