ABSTRACT
Against the backdrop of the contemporary debate on the need in an era of globalization, to adopt policies based on affirmative action for dalits/tribals, we now examine the innovative experiment attempted by the Digvijay Singh government with the adoption of the policy of supplier diversity. On January 13, 2002 on the final day of the Bhopal Conference, Singh announced that his government would introduce this policy for dalits and tribals in the state. Closely monitored by the office of the chief minister, it was one of the most salient policies implemented during the last two years of the Digvijay Singh government. Following the Bhopal Conference, the Task Force set up by Digvijay Singh to make recommendations also stressed upon the need to initiate this policy in a few departments, and over time expand it into all sectors of the government as well as the private sector (Task Force 2003: 13).
