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Nearly two decades ago, the Mandal Commission Report8217;s recommendation of OBC quotas in government jobs was unceremoniously implemented by the V.P. Singh government. Ever since, the debate on affirmative action in India has come to be both defined and distorted by that executive fait accompli. More recently, the extension of OBC quotas to centrally-funded institutions of higher education, or 8216;Mandal 28217;, reinforced the same contrived faultlines: those who are pro-quota and therefore allegedly pro-social justice versus those who are sceptical of the efficacy of inflexible quotas and therefore deemed to be anti-social justice. In this environment, the UPA8217;s periodic talk of extending quotas to the private sector 8212; it is mentioned in the National Common Minimum Programme 8212; has been disquieting.

But last Saturday8217;s meeting between representatives of industry chambers and government has sent out some reassuring signals. Industry chambers clearly expressed their opposition to any legislation that makes quotas mandatory. At the same time, they acknowledged the need to increase representation of SCs and STs in industry by voluntary means. They agreed to come up with a policy of 8220;positive discrimination8221; in the selection of candidates, as part of a generally accepted 8220;code of conduct8221;. Of course, this is easier pledged than done. There are fissures within industry members over at least two issues: one, not everyone has been equally forthcoming on baseline data compilation, to ascertain progress by industry on SC/ST employment after introducing affirmative action. Two, there are differences on the nature of weightage to be given to these candidates in the selection process: should there be a uniform policy or should the modalities be left to individual companies?

As industry and the government talk, they would do well to heed the more sophisticated debates in other countries. In the US, for instance, while assessing affirmative action policies, the courts have attempted to balance the compelling interest of 8220;diversity8221; with the equally compelling need to keep such policies 8220;narrowly tailored8221;. A range of options can be explored once the tyranny of the mandatory quota is refuted.