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Reservation Rage

DoMS, IIT - Madras vs DMS, IIT - Delhi

The issue: Job reservations in the private sector will bring people from diverse backgrounds into organisations and create economies of competition, thus benefiting these organisations.

For Job Reservation
Sujeet Joshi, DoMS, IIT-Madras

Amidst the entire hullabaloo over the reservation issue, how many of us have actually listened to the other side of the story? How many of us actually know of the success stories of men and women who have done well for themselves and their families because they were able to make use of the reserved seats in the institutions that they attended? There is a need to ponder over the larger question of the ethical and moral dimensions of the reservation issue.

The best way to build a nation worthy of the great ideals envisaged by our forefathers is to ensure economic equity and this is best achieved through providing employment to the youth in the sunrise industries. It is widely accepted that the job reservations in post - independent India have not achieved their objectives. The reasons could be many - bureaucracy, vote bank politics, slow legal redressal systems, absence of conformity checks and lack of penalties on the offending government organisations. But, would it be wrong to expect private sector organisations to use their existing efficiencies to create an environment that would be conducive to the socio-economic upliftment of society? There comes a time when the corporate bodies and the private institutions have to realise their social responsibilities and not just rely on the government to bail them out through tax sops and infrastructure facilities.

There are many Indian corporations, which, as a part of their social responsibility programmes, run charity foundations for the orphans, destitute and the deprived. Why can they not reserve a defined percentage of jobs in their organisations? Of course, it is to be ensured only the meritorious candidates among the reserved classes get selected for the job. Not only will the private organisations then have a diversified workforce but also achieve a sense of deeper satisfaction, of having done something for the millions of backward Indians.

Comparing the Indian reservation scenario with the American system of affirmative action and vouching for the same in our country is inherently wrong. It is important to understand that the Americans use affirmative action clauses very actively to have a diversified workforce within their organisations. Once a candidate from an ethnic minority is selected he/she is considered to be on par with all the other employees in the organisation, with respect to appraisals and career growth. They strongly pursue meritocracy within their organisation for all the employees.

The best way for the Indian companies to diversify their workforce in a manner that reinforces equitable employment opportunities is to begin by implementing the more stringent form of affirmative action - reservations. Of course, this means that there will be more work to be done during the HR audits to ensure the defined percentage is followed. More importantly, this should help corporates in implementing strict meritocracy within their organisations, which includes adopting the hire and fire policy even for the 'reserved' jobs.

Let's look at the latent effects that reservation may have on the collective psyche of the nation. It is well understood that if we have to reach the status enjoyed by the first world nations, poverty levels have to be reduced in our country. The majority of opinions against reservations emanates from the progressive middle class of our country because they believe that they lose out on a lot of opportunities. Even in the workplaces, there are complaints of the "reserved" candidates being marginalised within a larger group. Is that expected of a "progressive" middle class employee? Such mentality stems from our belief that reservations are a back-door entry into an organisation. This is the mentality we need to get over as a nation. Whose fault is it if a child is born in a lower caste family? Who gives the higher castes the right to pick and choose the jobs for themselves and the lower castes? Such thinking is deeply rooted in anachronistic Indian traditions, which we have to get rid of. Efficiency and hypocrisy cannot be talked of in the same breath.

Once the job reservations are made available to the candidates of the backward sections and strict meritocracy is maintained within the organisation, then it is quite likely that, over a period of time, the caste based tensions will subside. As more and more people from backward castes join the mainstream workforce, not only will organisations be able to project a humane face to the larger public but will also help in achieving the larger socio-economic equity in the country.

Against Job Reservation
Pravin Vemuri, DMS - IIT-Delhi

There is a tendency on one's part to obfuscate the reasoning behind taking a stand on a political issue, but like most other things, it is often simple as in this case: there should be no reservations in the private sector, simply because it goes against merit. Though the question should arise as to why merit should be a matter of consideration in the private sector when, seemingly, it is not the case in public sector units and educational institutions-whether government or privately owned.

Well, to start with, the organised private sector currently employs 8.4 million people and given that there are currently around 120 million from the backward castes in the workforce, there would not be any significant improvement in the employment patterns. Second, according to simple economic logic we accepted when we entered the liberalisation era, we look to the market controlled competition in the private sector to be the driver of growth and development of our economy. Now, given this fact and our acceptance of the capitalist ideal, at a time when the economy is in its adolescent stage and on its way of becoming a truly great power, one would expect Government intrusion to be going south. Also, it is beyond dispute that employees are the wealth creators for any organisation. In fact, management thinkers such as Sumantro Ghoshal have demanded a change in the way the top management looks at their firms, propagating increased importance of the human capital as the key resource. Any organisation, therefore, should be allowed the freedom to choose and breed the kind of people they believe would suit their needs. The increase in the tone of protest from the leaders and captains of the industries against job reservation is not without reason.

Third and most significantly, let's take a look at the hiring process of most of these private sector organisations: typically they shortlist a certain number of colleges and universities and would either set up shop there or invite applications from students of these institutions. According to government regulations, a certain percentage of these students are from the backward castes and have a good chance of being recruited. Though I have not been able to obtain statistics regarding their number and percentage, it doesn't take anything away from the reality that everyone is being given an appropriate chance.

Another important matter worth considering is how the Government is planning to go about this and how far it plans to go. The private sector has built up its workforce all these years by their own free, collective will. Also, around the year they keep firing and hiring people according to what policies they have in place. Similarly, it has certain policies in place for rewarding and promoting their employees. Now, if the Government indeed wants to go ahead with its plans to have a comprehensive affirmative action programme in place, it would have to direct these companies to change most of their HR policies, such as promotion and rewards. If the Government decides to do so, then would it also ask these companies to fire the ones they have employed and rehire such that they have the right caste mix? And how does the Government propose to see if this affirmative action is actually working out? Will it make HR audits mandatory for private companies to keep them in check? And this is in addition to the whole slew of problems that may arise due to such affirmative actions: candidates being looked over despite them being more meritorious for a job or a promotion. Obviously, such actions would not motivate any employee to work harder, for results would not anymore be the sole arbiter of professional success.

As I said at the beginning of this article, the private sector is the last frontier left where a free-for-all competition still exists and, indeed, is the essence of the sector itself, where merit counts and what should count is the SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. Any attempt to dilute it should be considered a sacrilege.

(The views expressed are those of the writers and not of any institution.)