Tata pitches for equal opportunities, not quota

Chennai, June 14: Tata Sons Chairman Ratan Tata today said it was good to give 'equal opportunities' to everyone instead of extending reservation to the private sector.

''We want to create our country as a land of equal opportunities for all. We should establish a land of equality,'' he told reporters on the sidelines of Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) National Sumit on 'Corporate Social Responsibility'.

We have been co-operating with the CII on this, much before the talks on reservation began,'' Mr Tata said.

On Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's recent appeal to corporate sector to put a cap on the salary of top management, he said, ''In Tata Sons, we never offer extravagant salaries and so I do not know about it.'' On Tata Steel's acquisition of Anglo-Dutch steel major Corus, he said, ''I am pleased with the way in which the integration of the company with the Tatas is going on.'' Commenting on the telecom business, Mr Tata said the group had to grow in the sector to provide ''end-to-end solutions.'' It had made a begining in the sector with the CDMA technology.

''But when third generation technology comes to the country, we will be interested in that too,'' he said.

Mr N Ram, Editor-in-Chief, The Hindu, in his key note address, said the corporate sector, through its broad network, could help the government in implementing various welfare programmes.

UNI