Nearly two decades ago, the Mandal Commission Report’s recommendation of OBC quotas in government jobs was unceremoniously implemented by the V.P. Singh government. Ever since, the debate on affirmative action in India has come to be both defined and distorted by that executive fait accompli. More recently, the extension of OBC quotas to centrally-funded institutions of higher education, or ‘Mandal 2’, reinforced the same contrived faultlines: those who are pro-quota and therefore allegedly pro-social justice versus those who are sceptical of the efficacy of inflexible quotas and therefore deemed to be anti-social justice. In this environment, the UPA’s periodic talk of extending quotas to the private sector — it is mentioned in the National Common Minimum Programme — has been disquieting.

But last Saturday’s meeting between representatives of industry chambers and government has sent out some reassuring signals. Industry chambers clearly expressed their opposition to any legislation that makes quotas mandatory. At the same time, they acknowledged the need to increase representation of SCs and STs in industry by voluntary means. They agreed to come up with a policy of “positive discrimination” in the selection of candidates, as part of a generally accepted “code of conduct”. Of course, this is easier pledged than done. There are fissures within industry members over at least two issues: one, not everyone has been equally forthcoming on baseline data compilation, to ascertain progress by industry on SC/ST employment after introducing affirmative action. Two, there are differences on the nature of weightage to be given to these candidates in the selection process: should there be a uniform policy or should the modalities be left to individual companies?

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