New Delhi, May 6: Bharti Enterprises chief Sunil Mittal today said the government should “give industry two years for affirmative action on a voluntary basis. If it fails, only then should the government start using the (South African style) measures” for job reservation.

Mittal, also the CII vice-president, said in an interview to a television channel that the majority in the Indian industry supports this view. “I would say that in the last 10 or 20 days of this debate, within CII at least, everybody and anybody who has been on the table for discussion supports this view,” he said.

Opposing the move for a job quota in the private sector, Mittal said he would fight against this at all forums possible. “I would say anything that’s going to hurt the industry’s competitiveness will have to be fought. At what quorum, which place, courts or outside courts, or politically needs to be dealt with,” said Mittal.

However, he underlined the role of corporates in social uplift of the weaker sections of society. “I am a strong believer that if India has to get the complete benefit of its large population and its big market, if you will not carry the weaker sections of society, if you will not incorporate the eastern part of India into the mainstream, I think India will never achieve its glory.”

The issue of reservation is being widely debated in corporate circles after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh urged India Inc to address the issues of “development, displacement and environment” at the annual session of the CII.