When dealing with an issue as contentious as reservations, it makes sense to begin with the context and the caveats: first, this magazine, a die-hard proponent of free-market philosophy, has always been partial to the merit thing. Second, the timing of Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh's announcement/interview/response about an additional 27.5/whatever per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central universities was deplorable. Third, there is no denying the fact that in combination with the 22 per cent already reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, this will mean that around half the seats in such institutions are now blocked to most young people known to this writer, as well as to the readers of this magazine (in short, to 'people like us'). Why, then, is this magazine pumping for reservations?

Simple, because it would seem to be the most pragmatic affirmative action. So, are people like Kris Lakshmikanth, the CEO of The Headhunters, a Bangalore-based hr consultancy ("Reservations can play havoc in it because people are the most important asset; that's why companies choose the best talent."), N.R. Narayana Murthy, the Chairman of Infosys ("The solution is not reservation in education or in employment; the solution is to make the disadvantaged people more competition-worthy."), and Rahul Bajaj, the Chairman of Bajaj Auto ("This could lead to job reservations in the private sector; if need be, we will fight this to the Supreme Court.") wrong? Let's add one more question mark to the profusion that decorates this composition. Would this magazine support job-reservation in the private sector? Yes.

India Inc., actually, is no stranger to reservations. There is reservation for the progeny and assorted relatives of the families that control several business groups (let's take this professionalisation thing with a pinch of salt, shall we?). There is reservation for men (over women; yes, the glass ceiling is real). And, in the case of companies founded by defection capital (professionals who go out, raise money, and start a company), there is reservation for the founders themselves. Merit is recognised, of course, but only up to a level. Then, there's the fact that the better-known and the better-performing Indian firms (or subsidiaries of multinationals) boast systems that can make average, even mediocre managers look good.

From an entirely different perspective, existing quotas in engineering and medical schools appear to be either inadequate (based on data provided by the state of Tamil Nadu which indicates that the ratio of SC/ST/OBC: 'open category' students in Class XII is 3.5: 1) or not strictly enforced (again, in Tamil Nadu, some 10,000 to 15,000 seats blocked for students belonging to SCs/STs/OBCs in engineering schools go abegging). In West Bengal, according to the West Bengal University of Health Sciences, 783 of the 2,374 students in various medical schools (a third), belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, or Other Backward Classes. The corresponding proportion in engineering schools, according to the West Bengal University of Technical Education, is 26 per cent. And according to the Directorate of Technical Education in Maharashtra, only 2,162 of the 46,575 students admitted to engineering schools in the state every year come from a SC/ST/OBC background.

There are two ideal approaches to deal with the underprivileged: one involves family income-based reservation (not possible in a country where only 2 per cent of the population pays taxes, which means that incomes of the others cannot be verified); and another requires the government to focus on bettering the quality of primary education (now, that's a real challenge). With neither being practicable in the medium-term, a policy of reservation, with all its accompanying systemic inefficiencies would appear to be the solution (and, at one level, reservations are not very different from tax holidays provided by the government to companies). Would the quality of education at engineering and business schools such as the IIMs and the IITs suffer? Would the performance of companies deteriorate? Only if there is something radically wrong with their much-touted teaching methodologies or training programmes.

-Reported by Krishna Gopalan, Ritwik Mukherjee, Nitya Varadarajan and Rahul Sachitanand

INSTAN TIP
The fortnight's burning question.

Is there a need to restructure compensation in the public sector?

Yes, but not across the board. U.K. Sinha, CMD, UTI Asset Management Company

Compensation at the entry level is higher in the public sector than the private sector, but is much lower at the middle and leadership levels. There is a need for incentive-based compensation, but not an across the board hike.

Yes, absolutely.

G.P. Goenka, Chairman, Duncan Goenka Group

The level of salaries in the public sector is ridiculous. How do they expect to retain talent? It is high time they do something about it. (If things go on like this) There will come a time when no one wants to join a PSU.

Yes, but with caution.

Hema Ravichandar, Consultant

We must take a cost to company perspective. Public sector salaries involve several unique benefits. Also, how do you cost job security and a greater work life balance? There could still be a gap, and including a significant variable pay component in salaries is a way out.

--Compiled by Shaleen Agrawal

Q&A
"R&D Is A Cog In Our India Plan"

From screening urine samples at the Olympics to testing 70 per cent of the world's mobile phones, there isn't much that isn't done on Agilent equipment. Since 2000, however, the Palo Alto, California-based firm has faced rough weather and seen revenues halve from the high of $11 billion (Rs 48,400 crore then) in 2000. The company's President and CEO Bill Sullivan, however, tells Rahul Sachitanand that the firm is back.

What is different about the new Agilent?

We have exited some non-core areas, including our semiconductor business and made some acquisitions to strengthen our core test market.

How crucial is India to your strategy?

India and China are two of our fastest growing markets in the world and we see this gesture (of investing $25 million or Rs 112.5 crore in a 2,000-person facility in Gurgaon) as a sign of our commitment. The massive growth in wireless telecom is a huge plus; the local pharma, biotech and bioinformatics market rely on our equipment. We also see software development and R&D as another cog in our India plan.

Finally, will we see more drug cheats caught in Beijing in 2008?

The bad guys always seem to be a step ahead of the cops. We were rather successful at Athens, but the emergence of newer techniques such as 'blood doping' (which increases the red cell mass in an athlete's body and therefore, oxygen supply).... We now have to focus on upgrading our tests or devising new ones.