Enter the quota, kill the goose

“ He'll do anything. Just give my man a job.”

That was 1999, and our tiny taste of 'private sector quota'. We'd moved
from small offices in Delhi to Cyber House, Gurgaon. For a local official's
'support', we had to hire 'his man'.

Try telling any SBU head in a competitive merito­cracy: 'Hire this chap.
No questions', and watch the reaction. Even if it's ­only an odd-job office
boy.

In 1989, one ephemeral PM selectively read a decade-old Mandal report, and
picked one point: a government quota for backward classes and castes (SC/ST and
OBC). India burnt.

In 2006, HRD minister Arjun Singh tried Mandal 2. Take reservations in the
IITs and IIMs up to 50 percent, and then take the quotas into the private
sector.

Neither Singh read the Mandal report. Or they'd have seen the structural
changes advised, the institutional reforms for education and the economic uplift
of the OBCs.

Imagine our industry giants in a quota raj. First compete fiercely for global
business and for top talent. Then dilute that with 10,000 quota seats. The cost
of doing business in India? Could an MNC's India center hire 10,000 people
sans merit?

The SC/ST/OBCs make up over two-thirds of India's population, but just a
few percent of the tech workforce. Why? Well, they're not available. They're
a tiny part of higher education's output. With 50 percent reservations, so
many 'quota seats' go empty. What a waste.

The problem begins at school. That's where it needs fixing. Not by quotas,
but by ensuring that kids go to school. And by ramping up facilities and
faculty. That's a huge task, with results ten years later-beyond the
vote-bank event-horizon for Arjun Singh & co.

The tech industry has been largely quiet on quotas. Here's what I think it
should do, leveraging its clout as a major forex earner, employer, and personal
tax source.

Discuss and agree on a stand on the quota issue for IITs/IIMs and the
industry. Make a clear statement.

Create a framework for affirmative action and inclusion, best practices that
companies can adopt. Cover issues of gender (and women in management), people
with disabilities, and backward classes. You don't need a government mandate
to want your company to become the most desirable workplace.

Make a representation to the HRD Ministry (through Nasscom, CII, et al) with
the support of the Department of IT about the impact of quotas in the IIT/IIMs
and the private sector. About HR quality, India's competitiveness, and
India's long term earnings.

The industry has enough challenges ahead: growth, profitability, management
expertise, global compe­tition, HR. It does not need random political spanners.
Fortunately, the tech industry is usually united enough to respond fast and with
one voice. Here's hoping it does so now.