The first voice of protest against Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh’s decision to impose 49.5 per cent quota in IITs, IIMs and Central universities has come from the high-profile National Knowledge Commission (NKC), which reports directly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and whose mandate is to sharpen the country’s “knowledge edge”. In a strong e-mail to all commission members today, NKC’s member-convenor Pratap Bhanu Mehta has asked the commission to intervene and write to the PM against the quota regime. Terming this as a “very distressing development”, Mehta, who heads the Centre for Policy Research, wrote: “There is no point having NKC, if we don’t take a stand on this issue”. Mehta’s views on the issue, however, were not liked by another commission member Jayati Ghosh, an economics professor at JNU. She promptly wrote back to the members to record her “dissent” on this issue. Mehta, in his e-mail, argued his case against the quota: “IITs are already facing severe faculty shortages, and to simply increase the number of seats will have serious adverse consequences. It shows the extent to which these institutions are being subjected to the ministry’s own political and intellectual predilections”. “I know we have divergent views on reservation. I think there is probably more a consensus on SC/ST reservation, but reservations for OBCs have very little justification: indeed it is in some ways hurting the cause of SC But the idea that 49 pc of seats must come under reserved categories is surely alarming.” Mehta, a former professor at Harvard University, wrote: “Can we perhaps send a short letter to PM registering our protest and it will have three points. First, the new proposals are incompatible with promoting excellence and autonomy.” Second, he wrote, “while we recognize the access to education should be distributed widely across social groups, we feel 49 pc reserved seats is a step in wrong direction. At the moment, measures are in place for SCs/STs and these should not be supplemented by reservation for OBCs”. And third, “till such time as we evolve a new consensus on more imaginative access policies, let the status quo continue. This is an opportunity to think afresh on this issue and not rush into introducing measures that we know are irreversible”. He concluded by saying, “Some of our colleagues disagree with these propositions, we can record their dissent in the letter. There is no point having an NKC, if we don’t take a stand on this issue”. Jayati Ghosh wrote back: “As you know, I disagree on this matter. If such a letter is indeed sent, I would like to insist that my dissent be explicitly recorded in the letter, in an easily visible manner. I would like to see the letter before it’s finally sent”. The Knowledge Commission, formed by PM Manmohan Singh, has Sam Pitroda as chairperson and Dr P M Bhargava as vice-chairperson. Its other members are Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Deepak Nayyar, Ashok Ganguly, Andre Beteille, Ghosh and Mehta. Set up in June 2005, the commission advises the PM on matters relating to institutions of knowledge production, knowledge use and knowledge dissemination. It is helped by the Planning Commission and has a National Steering Group to assist it, which is chaired by the PM and includes HRD Minister Arjun Singh, along with Ministers of Agriculture, Commerce and Industry, Communication and IT, Science and Technology and Deputy Chairman of the Plan panel.
