Critical reasoning — reservation in government jobs for candidates from single-child families: Should government jobs include a reservation quota for applicants from single-child families, balancing the merit-based objection against the claim that such a policy would encourage population control by promoting the single-child norm?

Given data

• Statement: Reservation for single-child family candidates?
• Argument I (No): Jobs should be awarded on merit; group-based reservation here is inadvisable.
• Argument II (Yes): Such reservation would reduce population growth by incentivising single-child families.

Concept/Approach (job policy vs. demographic policy)
A strong argument should align hiring with job competence and fairness. Using employment reservation to engineer fertility choices is speculative and misaligned with recruitment principles.

Step-by-step evaluation
1) Argument I directly supports merit-based selection in government service; relevant and strong.2) Argument II assumes a significant behavioural response without addressing ethics, fairness, or effectiveness; weak.

Final Answer
Only argument I is strong.