Some reservations

The Maharashtra government’s proposal to introduce reservations in the private sector has elicited predictable responses. A legislation has already been passed by the assembly, making quotas mandatory for backward classes in all organisations that have in any way benefited from state assistance — in other words, practically everywhere. India Inc has reacted with a shudder, reeling off arguments about the sagacity of merit-based inductions and the difficulties in balancing social obligations with the brutal demands of corporate competitiveness. The state government points to the yawning mismatch between the percentage of the population classified as backward and its share in jobs and school enrolments. Yet, while the need for social democracy cannot be overstated, the government’s recourse to pursuing this through summary fiat would be ill-advised.

Over the years, in its pursuit of an egalitarian social order, India has tended to deliver social justice through quota, rather than more muscular empowerment. Provision of jobs has been seen to be enough proof of the state’s devotion to social democracy, instead of a lengthier, more complicated agenda to enable vast sections of the disprivileged to make confident bids for employment. That is, quality education and training that would render almost irrelevant the state’s paternalistic role in ordering jobs for the backward classes has hardly been given any attention. Thus, to the extent that it would open access to educational institutions, the Maharashtra government’s latest intervention is welcome.

That said, affirmative action in employment is important. Companies, especially those in the consumer and service sectors, must know that clients and buyers today are becoming increasingly aware socially. To be socially responsible is part of winning the trust of consumers. But each company, each industry, has its own compulsions, its own negotiating room in balancing merit with rainbow workplaces. The government, however, must play a leading role here. If it provides quality education and vocational training, at least that seeming gap between merit and representation would be erased.