Job reservations in the private sector
May 7, 2003
The ugly word "reservation" is making an appearance again in the legislative circles. Now, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati is considering passing a law making a certain percentage of private sector jobs available only to backward castes.
Job reservations for "backward" castes, regardless of merit, have been present in government and public sector jobs for a long time now. Isn't it enough that we have to endure the appeasement of vote banks by shameless politicians? Why should the government interfere in the running of private companies and dictate its employment policies? Unlike the government, social justice (or the appearance of it) isn't one of the responsibilities of private corporations. A corporation exists to make money for its shareholders. While you could argue that it has a duty to its employees, it doesn't have a duty to employ. A private corporation should be free to hire whoever it wishes, competent or not, justified or not, and pursue whatever path it thinks will lead to profitability. The government's meddling will only result in more social divisions. Do they honestly think people who get hired only because "there's a quota for them" will be welcomed with open arms by other employees or that they will have a great career path?
Reservations were originally intended to be a temporary measure; something to have in place while the government tried to provide education to the so-called backward castes and get them to equal societal and economic status. That they continue to exist only points to the utter failure of the government to do so in the last 55 years since we became independent.
You'd expect a politician like Mayawati to resort to such tactics, but what do you say when members of the intelligentsia also support these policies? JK points to this news article in which Narayana Murthy, the Indian media's God of the software industry, opposes caste-based reservations proposed by Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna. He, however, extends his support for economic criteria-based reservations in our companies. In other words, Murthy wants us to reserve a certain percentage of jobs for the poor. No, it's not for government jobs but in the private sector. I'm not sure why Murthy, a capitalist for sure, is making such a statement. Why does he want to force philanthropy on us? Why isn't he content with just hiring the best people, regardless of their economic background?
His hypocrisy shows through in that he doesn't think his own company, Infosys Technologies Limited, is a good place to start practising what he preaches. Does Infosys reserve any percentage of its jobs — and I mean the serious software development jobs, not the lower end "office attendant" type — for poorer people? No, they certainly don't. If Murthy is serious about his intentions, let him put his money where his mouth is. That may, however, present a problem because there's something already there.
His foot.
