What is ‘Affirmative Action”in government policies?

Affirmative Action is defined as a policy initiative under which a company or any government organisation takes into account a person’s nationality, sex, religion and caste before extending employment or other educational opportunities. This helps the government to increase opportunities for underprivileged citizens.

• The primary aim is to encourage and raise the number of people from particular sections of society either in businesses or even educational concerns where their presence is notably low.
• It is generally done to uplift the hitherto neglected sections of the society by giving them more employment and educational opportunities.
• Another vital use is to bring down the gender diversity in big corporate houses. It was in 2015, SEBI had announced rules which mandated at least one woman as director. Despite this, only one-third of listed companies in India have women directors.
• In education sector as well, admissions for children from underprivileged sections are much simplified. This has been deliberately done by the government to promote educational facilities for all. Even higher educational facilities like universities offer financial aid in form of scholarships or support programs to encourage students from weaker sections.