Industry fumes as Karnataka govt moves bill on job reservation for Kannadigas in private sector

BENGALURU: The Chief Minister Siddaramaiah cabinet on Tuesday approved a Bill that seeks to reserve 50 per cent of management jobs and 75 per cent of non-management jobs for locals in the private sector. The bill also seeks 100 per cent reservation for locals in C and D group government jobs.

On Wednesday several industry leaders in the state objected to the move saying that it is “discriminatory” and raised apprehensions that the tech industry may suffer. Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, said that the Bill is “fascist” and also unconstitutional. “This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh is govt to certify who we are? This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a govt officer will sit on recruitment committees of the private sector? People have to take a language test?” Pai said in a post on X.

This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh is govt to certify who we are? This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a govt officer will sit on recruitment… https://t.co/GiWq42ArEu

— Mohandas Pai (@TVMohandasPai) July 17, 2024

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, cxecutive chairperson of Biocon Limited, said that the state should not let this Bill affect its leading position in the domain of technology and there should be exemptions for highly skilled recruitment. “As a tech hub, we need skilled talent and whilst the aim is to provide jobs for locals we must not affect our leading position in technology by this move. There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy”, Shaw posted on X.

RK Misra, co-chairman of ASSOCHAM, Karnataka, and the co-founder of YULU, called the Bill shortsighted and said that if a government officer is appointed in every private company to monitor its implementation, it will scare away Indian IT and Global Capability Centres. “Another genius move from Govt of Karnataka. Mandate LOCAL RESERVATION & APPOINT GOVT OFFICER IN EVERY COMPANY to monitor. This will scare Indian IT & GCCs. Short-sighted”, Misra posted on X.

Another genius move from Govt of Karnataka. Mandate LOCAL RESERVATION & APPOINT GOVT OFFICER IN EVERY COMPANY to monitor.
This will scare Indian IT & GCCs. Short sighted. ⁦@nasscom⁩
⁦@siddaramaiah⁩ ⁦@kris_sg⁩ ⁦@kiranshaw⁩ ⁦ https://t.co/EhvBLHeuiX

— RK Misra (@rk_misra) July 17, 2024

The sharp criticism follows a day after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah posted that the Karnataka Cabinet has approved the bill to make recruitment of 100 per cent Kannadigas mandatory for ‘C and D’ grade posts in all private industries.

In his post on X, CM Siddaramiah said that the state government’s priority was to look after the welfare of Kannadigas.”The Cabinet meeting held yesterday approved a bill to make it mandatory to hire 100 per cent Kannadigas for “C and D” grade posts in all private industries in the state. It is our government’s wish that the Kannadigas should avoid being deprived of jobs in the land of Kannada and should be allowed to build a comfortable life in the motherland. We are a pro-Kannada government. Our priority is to look after the welfare of Kannadigas”, he posted on X.

The Bill, drafted by the Labour Department, claimed that jobs of industries operating in the state are going to the states of North India. The Bill states that industries that get infrastructure including land and water from the state should give reservations for jobs to the locals, and this has been approved in the cabinet meeting.

Earlier, the Sarojini Mahishi Committee report stated that in large, medium and small-scale industrial units with more than 50 workers, 65 per cent and 80 per cent of the jobs in A and B categories, respectively should be reserved for Kannadigas, and 100 per cent in C and D categories would be reserved for Kannadigas. However, no policies were formulated regarding guaranteeing reservations for Kannadigas in jobs.

Moreover, in the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development Act presented by the Department of Kannada and Culture in 2022, it was said that reservations should be given to industries that have received tax exemptions and other facilities from the state government. However, no policy rules have been formulated for this.

In the Cabinet meeting held on Tuesday, the Bill to provide 100 per cent job reservation for Kannadigas in C and D grade jobs was approved. Officials from the Labor Department said that the Bill will be presented and passed in the same session. (ANI)