By Sharat Pradhan
India's lower castes and indigenous tribes already claim about half of government and public sector jobs, a scheme of affirmative action aimed at redressing the imbalance of Hinduism's ancient caste system.
Most leading businesses have shunned the idea of quotas, worried it will worsen their competitiveness in a global market.
"Because of the anti-reservation mentality of the ruling classes the full benefits of reservation is not reaching the people," the advert said.
"There is increasingly a competitive race politically over who is doing what with reservations," said T.K. Bhaumik, chief economist of Reliance Industries Ltd, India's largest business conglomerate. "There are elections ahead."
Firms solely working in the private sector are not included.
Critics say the economy is still split on caste, with top managers mostly higher castes while Dalits, about 16 percent of India's 1.1 billion people, are relegated to menial jobs.
"Now how do we function?" said a leading industrialist in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh's major industrial hub. He asked to remain anonymous because of fears his statement could have repercussions on his business in Uttar Pradesh.
(Additional reporting by Alistair Scrutton in New Delhi; Writing by Alistair Scrutton; Editing by Simon Denyer and David Fox)
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