Reservation policy?. Review on ______

The saga started by Vishwanath Pratap Singh that was dormant for over a decade has been revived by our own Manmohan Singh. Who would have thought Manmohan to be capable of talking about reservations? The man appears to be upright and standing for values...is he under pressure or is it that the values that the country stands for have changed?

Kudos to Azim Premji, who was not afraid to make a statement that did not question the intent of the PMs request but did make his stand very clear. And that at a time when the other stalwarts like Nandan Nilekani were trying a non-confrontational diplomatic 'we need to sit together and talk'. What is to talk of? Would an Infosys survive with people who are not inducted based on merit? Why would the story be different for an Infy as compared to a Wipro or any other company? Perhaps the bigger question is: why should the government interfere with private companies on such aspects?

I have nothing against the sections of society being proposed for reservation. I am against the proposition - facilitate them, by all means - provide them free education even if it is at the cost of the tax payer, provide them free books, meals but upto a stage. Do not guarantee them a job - if they are deserving, they would get into jobs anyway. No Wipro or Infy or TCS is going to reject an eligible and qualified candidate simply because the candidate belongs to a certain section of society!

India is going global and Premji's response to the PMs proposition was very apt. How does one expect to compete when equipped with arms that are not necessarily qualified for the job in terms of expertise and qualification?

What does the PM want to do next - impose reservation in the army to determine the number of people in OBCs who would stand watch on Siachen?