The Hindu Business Line : Quota — an idea whose time has come

QUOTA is "an idea whose time has come", according to Dr Manmohan Singh, though the private sector may never come to terms with ``job reservation for the weaker sections'', law or no law. On the job front again, skilled professionals aspiring for US openings are also unable to digest the fact that this year's quota of 65,000 `H-1B' visas was filled on October 1, the first day of the 2005 fiscal year, much like tatkal quota in railway reservation.

Quota means "limited quantity of a product which may be produced, exported, or imported," explains Concise Oxford English Dictionary. For example, OPEC has decided to increase its official production quota from 26 million to 27 million barrels a day from next month, to `stabilise' the market at `appropriate' prices. "Quotas are usually controlled by the issue of licences," explains Oxford Dictionary of Business. Thus, when licence raj is derided as corruption prone, blame would lie on quota regime too. For example, days ago, in Vietnam, "one more official of the Ministry of Trade" was arrested for his alleged role in the textile quota corruption scandal exposed recently; it seems he took "bribes from Vietnamese garment and textile exporters to secure export quotas for the American market," as http://vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn reports.

Quota is also a share of something that one is entitled to receive or bound to contribute, as when dividing expenses or fixing targets for salesmen; the word means ``a fixed number of a group allowed to do something'' as in immigration controls.

In elections based on proportional representation, quota could mean the minimum number of votes required to win.

On quota's origin, Encarta informs: "Early 17th century. Via medieval Latin quota (pars), literally ``how large (a part)?'' Feminine of quotus (see quote)." In `quote', the origin story reads thus: "14th century. Via medieval Latin quotare ``to number chapters'' from, ultimately, Latin quot ``how many?' (Source of English quotient)." Quotient, in turn, is "15th century. From Latin quotiens ``how many times?'' From quot (see quote)." That completes a circle of quotes. Online Etymology Dictionary explains that the earliest reference of quota is to "contributions of soldiers or supplies levied from a town or district"; and that the immigration sense for the word is from 1921.

Quota is hot in news. On the WTO site, there is a recent exhortation for ``special and differential treatment for least-developed countries'', urging members "to provide duty-free and quota-free market access for LDC agricultural and non-agricultural products". Textiles Minister Shankersinh Vaghela is bullish that with the exit of the quotas regime in early 2005, new opportunities would emerge for the Indian textiles sector. Jammu and Kashmir's quota of Haj pilgrims is to be increased by the Centre and the All India Haj Committee.

Quota is relevant in communication too; for instance, German MPs want to impose a quota on broadcasters because "only 10 per cent of German radio's play lists is sung in German, falling way short of France, Italy and Spain's 50 per cent native language ratio", informs http://news.bbc.co.uk. On computers, there is no limit to e-mails that can flood the inbox and if the problem of spam remains uncontrolled, trade unions may consider helping employees by imposing a quota of e-mails that can be opened in a day.

Tariff rate quota or TRQ is a trade policy tool for protecting domestic product from competitive imports. TRQ "combines two policy instruments that nations historically have used to restrict such imports: quotas and tariffs," explains www.webref.org. "Imports entering during a specific time period under the quota portion of a TRQ are usually subject to a lower, or sometimes a zero, tariff rate. Imports above the quota's quantitative threshold face a much higher (usually prohibitive) tariff." For instance, maize imports are under open general licence subject to Customs duty of 65 per cent, though under a TRQ of 5 lakh tonnes per annum, concessional duty is 15 per cent.

There is quota in the jungles too because a recent Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species has permitted Namibia and South Africa to each kill five endangered black rhinos per year to "allow wealthy hunters to kill the endangered rhinos and export them as trophies, such as stuffed animals and heads", says www.news24.com.

A disturbing report in www.guardian.co.uk is about how quotas hurt the North Sea because of a new sport for tourists: "Killing baby seals". Norway is desperately hoping that tourists would help meet its annual quota of about 2,000 seals!

There can be violence in the name of quota though, ironically, there appears to be no quota for violence.

ComingToTerms@TheHindu.co.in

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