BUILT ON MERIT: Infosys may not have been the powerhouse it is today had it been forced to reserve positions on the basis of caste

Can a patently retrograde and anti-competitive measure ensure social and economic justice? The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre seems to think it can. But if caste discrimination has been a thorn in the collective flesh of the entire nation, then the government, by seeking to propagate it further through caste-based reservations, is just driving the thorn in deeper. Article 15 of the Indian Constitution expressly prohibits discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. Through the perverse incentive of caste-based reservations, however, the government is promoting precisely what the founding fathers of the Constitution had so abhorred. It will be disastrous if the government carries through its threat of imposing mandatory job quotas in the private sector. "While no person should be denied a job based on his caste, it is equally so that no person should get a job simply on the basis of his caste. Recruitment should be on the basis of merit," says Sanjiv Goenka, Vice Chairman, RPG Enterprises.

Some key questions, however, need to be answered. What are we trying to achieve? Is it non-discrimination? If the answer is yes, then painting the Dalits (Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes or SCs and STs) and the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) with the same brush will not work. Historically, the former have been outcastes-victims of the invidious practice of untouchability and their current status, at least in rural India, has not improved in tandem with the economic progress of the nation. "The OBCs, (however), are now part of the ruling classes in many states. Arjun Singh has confused the entire nation," says Dalit activist Chandrabhan Prasad. This argument is accepted by others as well. "The case for Dalits is more compelling. One does not want to use the same instrument of reservations for OBCs," says Pratap Bhanu Mehta, President and Chief Executive, Centre for Policy Research (CPR), who, along with sociologist Andre Beitelle, resigned from the National Knowledge Commission in protest against mindless caste-based reservations. Mehta also believes that before we look at reservations, we must answer the questions: What kind of deprivation are we targeting? What prevents the backward sections from achieving their full potential? "It is imperative that the issue is addressed in a larger canvas of education, employability and entrepreneurship," says J.J. Irani, Director, Tata Sons, who was Chairman of an industry taskforce on the issue.

Pushed to the wall on the issue of job quotas, and threatened with legislation, industry bodies like the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) have come out with a series of "voluntary" affirmative action (AA) policies. Explaining the anti-legislation stance of the industry and countering the suggestion that the action plan suggested by it is a ploy to stave off legislation, R. Seshasayee, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, and President, CII, says: "Legislation normally ensures that people follow the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law." However, the fact remains that organised private industry, which employs eight million people, has been consistently and, often quite vehemently, against job quotas. The rationale: a country that is positioning itself as the knowledge back-end of the world cannot compromise on merit.

"Voluntary initiatives with quantifiable targets are the only way forward and industry is committed to it" Sunil Mittal Chairman & MD, Bharti Airtel

Pro-reservationists, however, say social and economic backwardness prevents the acquisition of merit, leading to a vicious cycle of no-education-no-jobs and so on. If breaking this cycle is the goal of reservation, then, logically, education needs to be targeted, but from the other end of the spectrum. Rather than opening up access to IITs and IIMs, the emphasis should then be on strengthening the primary school system in the country. Says Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto, and Rajya Sabha mp: "I believe reservations are not likely to achieve the objectives for which they are being demanded. However, the problems of the economically backward, including the SCs/STs, should not be ignored. The first thing to do is obviously to ensure good primary education for all."

If one believes that historical social and economic practices prevent some groups from acquiring the skills required to access education and jobs, then other issues emerge. Caste is only one of the variables limiting performance. Income, cutting across caste lines, is often a more potent factor in preventing access to education and jobs. Religion, regional biases and gender also play their roles in this. As the example of the IITs shows-SC/ST quotas are seldom fully utilised (see The Story At The IITs)-numerical quotas do not often serve their full purpose in any of these cases.

"I believe reservations are not likely to achieve the objectives for which they are being demanded" Rahul Bajaj Chairman, Bajaj Auto

Also, despite the politically-charged debate raging over reservations, there is no reliable data on the exact number of OBCs (see How Big Is The OBC Population?) as there has been no caste-based census since Independence. Analysis based on consumption data is also inconclusive. Says R.K. Shukla, Chief Economist, National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER): "There is hardly any difference in the average per capita consumption of the bottom 20 per cent of all categories of the population, be it the SCs/STs, the OBCs or others. Quota policy makers should then exclude the creamy layer of all categories and include the bottom category of all the classes."

Industry, too, has no caste-based employment data. "Though it cannot be substantiated with data across the board, some samples have shown that representation of SCs/STs in shop floors is much more than is popularly perceived," says Irani.

"While no person should be denied a job based on his caste, no one should get a job on the basis of his caste also" Sanjiv Goenka Vice Chairman, RPG Enterprises

On job quotas, however, Corporate India has bought itself a year's time with its "voluntary" action plan, but the proverbial Sword of Damocles continues to hang over its head. "Voluntary initiatives with quantifiable targets are the only way forward and industry is committed to it," says Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharti Airtel. Will Corporate India deliver on this promise? It has no option, but to. Mere words will not help. But there is only so much that it can do. "Given that additions in employment in the private sector is just a very small number-and since it employs only 2 per cent of the country's total workforce-this measure will yield very limited results," says Irani.

"While we in industry certainly have a responsibility for preparing the underprivileged and making them more employable, such efforts cannot substitute for or absolve the government of its own responsibility," says Sunil Kant Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero Cycles.

So what are we shooting for? Brownie points ahead of elections would be the obvious guess, because rather than address real issues, reservations create an illusion of inclusiveness while actually doing nothing for the underprivileged.