I completely disagree with the idea of having reservations in the private sector.

On one hand, the government is privatising various public sector undertakings for lack of efficiency and is making changes in the trade union system, simply because the public sector needs to be spiked up.

On the other hand, it is trying to force reservations in the private sector, which is considered to be progress and result oriented.

There is a basic conceptual problem here. The government is trying to control the private sector. The private sector in itself is based on enterprise and merit.

So the question of having reservations seems rather illogical. If you start hiring people without merit, it will directly affect production and progress.

In my opinion, this whole idea of reservations is nothing but a political gimmick. Its more about impressing the backward classes and filling ones votebank than a genuine concern.

Firstly, if the private sector hires people, who may not be fit for the job, then their productivity gets hampered. And the governement doesnt even offer us any sort of tax rebate.

Even in China, when people from the agricultural sector are put into the industrial sector, there are rules to be followed. The first and foremost condition is results. They are sent back to the fields if they fail to deliver.

One cannot have unconditional reservations. If you hire people on the basis of class, caste or creed, how do you expect progress? They will be no competition, no enterprise and no results. But reservation goes against the rules of private enterprise.

Lokhandwala resident Lakshmi Ratan Daga is vice- president, Zenith.