Is the government hell bent on digging its own grave? The last part of my reservation trilogy!

Last fortnight, I was invited for a talk show on Janmat, and I had a new learning – which I think, I must share. I was supposed to express and defend my views on reservations. As the compere of the show completed his opening lines for the show, I realised that I had actually been invited to speak on reservations of a different kind! An issue with far more damaging possibilities of creating nuisance in the country than the education reservation issue. The issue was of reservations of jobs in the private sector. As the debate progressed, I realised its real potential to ignite illiterate minds and divide the country further on the basis of castes, without providing any permanent solution to the existing problems. Education is something one has to strive for years to get. So the people demanding reservations are physically not really seen around much. But if the question is about job reservations, then you would be able to see those demanding it in all street corners. Such is its potential to entice people to come out in support of it (in a country with mass unemployment like India) that every second person you meet would want job reservation! What can be better than not having to compete for a vacancy, but have it on a platter through reservations?

And nothing can be more damaging for India on the whole at this point in time than this completely ridiculous idea of having reservations in private sector jobs. First, the government fails to do things it was meant to do and the country stagnates with a typical 3% Hindu rate of growth for more than 40 years. Then finally, by default, it embraces liberalisation, allowing the private sector to break free of the license raj and give India the much deserved respect in the global arena. And then, just when there is good news all around, comes this farce from the government of attempting to do away with its basic responsibility and putting the responsibility of the unemployed masses on the private sector. Shame on every politician who endorses such a regressive idea. No, they are not illiterates to not understand what a crime it is, at this point of time, to force such a non-free market policy down the throats of the private sector, and create the huge possibility of making them non-competitive in the world markets. They are simply “India non-committed politicians.” They know, this way they can put the blame on the private sector, as if they are the villains not ready to give jobs to the unemployed; as many asked me, vociferously, during the show – Is the private sector’s objective only to make profits? Don’t they have any social responsibility? In my entire life, I had never heard of such an irrational definition of social responsibility.

The answer of course, in this case, is that the social responsibility of the private sector is to remain competitive & earn more profits; and therefore grow more & create more jobs. They are, in any case, creating the jobs, and reservations won’t help them create more jobs or reduce unemployment. It will only disgust them & push them into giving existing jobs that they are creating, to – not necessarily – deserving candidates and therefore ruining their competitiveness, and therefore reducing the entire process of job creation. It is as simple and basic as that, and the last politician one would expect not to know this, is our highly educated ex-IMF-World Bank Prime Minister.

So what should the government do? It should simply mind its own business and stop irritating those – the private sector – who are doing the country proud after years of third class existence. It should stop dividing the country on illogical grounds and should stop taking advantage of the biggest, calculated and deliberate crime against Indians that it has committed – that of keeping the masses illiterate. And in turn, should start working for a change. It should begin by giving people primary and secondary education for one. And from the year it starts on with a sincere process of education drive for all Indians, regardless of caste, creed, religion and economic condition, it can then – if at all it is hell bent on having reservations – divide the real percentage of backward castes by 16 (typically those many years of good education make a man capable of jobs) and start progressively reserving as much proportion of jobs for them year on year. That means, if OBCs etc. are 48% of our population, then it can start with a 3% percent reservation in the first year and increase it by 3% every year, till it touches 48% in 16 years. Because, by then, in any case those 48% would, on their own merit, have reserved 48% seats for themselves – for, given the same education, every human being is capable of becoming as competent. That’s the basic truth of life. And if the government does anything else, it surely is digging its own grave, for without the support of the private sector, the country & the government both will see their worst.

(Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri, Dean of IIPM)