Study quota impact first, Murthy to govt

Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor N R Narayana Murthy has asked for the formation of a high-level taskforce to study the impact of reservations on the common people before the government go ahead with its proposal to introduce reservations for backward classes in higher education.

"The prime minister should constitute a high-level taskforce that must study whether the benefits of reservations have really reached the economically weaker sections and backward classes in the society," Murthy, who launched Usha's, a newsletter of Usha School of Athletics run by former athlete P T Usha, told reporters today.

Murthy, who is known for his anti-reservations stance, said the government was talking of opening more IITs, technical and management institutions and scaling up the intake capacities of the existing institutions, "but, can you scale up the capacity in a year".

He said, "In any case, for me, the solution lies not in increasing the number of seats but in focusing more on the primary and secondary education."

Murthy said before taking any decision on reservations in elite institutions, the government should first invite the directors of IITs, IIMs and medical colleges for discussions.