Mail Call

"Grades and Politics" rightly exposes the flip side of Indian democracy, where affirmative action in education is used to woo ethnic, linguistic and religious minorities for electoral trade-off. Even though there is no evidence to suggest that these minorities are genetically handicapped, their sense of alienation and insecurity is promised to be allayed by applying quotas. Thus, rather than pulling down the divisive barriers, they are preserved and protected. The fact that there was near unanimity in supporting the bill in the Indian Parliament for enforcing quotas in privately run educational institutions shows that no political party dared to be seen as opposed to the Dalits and to socially and economically disadvantaged sections of society. Since the quota system places a premium on mediocrity, the quality of education suffers, as does progress in science and technology, corporate management, civil administration, etc. Discounting merit amounts to blunting the edge of knowledge, the catalyst of growth.

Sharad C. Misra

Mumbai, India

Developing Alternatives to Oil

I agree with Leonardo Maugeri that "estimating oil reserves is still an unsolved mystery" ("The Saudis May Have Enough Oil," Jan. 23). At the same time there may be a change of crowns among the world's oil masters that could also affect the price per barrel. Developing alternative energy resources that can replace oil in the long run would be in the world's best interests, rather than wasting time calculating who's got more oil and the total number of barrels. Our real chance for victory is in developing alternative energy resources.

Irfan Salam