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NT Bureau
Chennai, Apr 23:

        'The reservation policy for the private sector should cover all areas like agriculture, industries, housing, health, employment and education,' said

        University Grants Commission (UGC) chairman Sukhadeo Thorat, while delivering the 32nd Frank Moraes Memorial Lecture on 'Social Exclusion and inclusive Policy Reflection on Contemporary Issues in India.'

        The lecture was organised by the United Writers' Association, in association with Frank Moraes Foundation, here yesterday.

        Stating that people from the lower castes were being discriminated against in multiple ways in various sectors, Sukhadeo demanded that an Equal Opportunity Act be enacted to provide legal safeguards against discrimination. Tamil Nadu had pioneered the implementation of proportional reservation, he said.

        Madras Institute of Development Studies chairman M Anandakrishnan, in his speech, also agreed with Thorat's statements on the historical and contemporary processes that helped in the evolution of a civil and democratic society.

        Later, Thorat distributed the United Writers' Association Outstanding Intellectuals of the 21st Century Award to as many as 25 persons.