Nobel laureate Amartya Sen supported reservation in higher educational institutions for the under privileged sections of society. He asked to understand the justice component in quotas as Indian lower class has always been denied to study on the basis of cast, creed and poverty.

Mr. Sen said, "You have to see what best you can do to meet the demands for justice and efficiency in the delivery of public services. In Sanskrit, there are many words equivalent to justice. The two important words are 'nidhi' and 'nyaya'. The former is about institutions and their rules of behavior while the later is about realization of the benefits." He was addressing the plenary session at Pan-IIT 2008 organized by IIT alumni.

He regretted that benefits of quotas are being availed by upper creamy layer and lower poor class is still living miles away from centers of excellence. He appreciated the role of IITs for ushering India in modern era of technology and said that IIT should pay attention ant level of schools and primary health care.

Speaking on the economic front he said that adverse is yet to come. There would be a significant fall in the government's revenue leading to adverse impact on poor, healthcare and infrastructure sector.