The Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, the government of Karnataka’s bill reserving seats for private sector employees, caused a great deal of indignation among business leaders and forced the Congress-led government to reverse course and postpone the contentious legislation.
Karnataka CM faces dilemma on job reservation bill
“100% reservation for Kannadigas” in the private sector was his announcement. Upon receiving critical feedback from business executives and industrialists, the CM removed his post on ‘X’ on Wednesday.
He made a U-turn and announced a delay for the contentious bill in his subsequent post on X.
“The bill approved by the Cabinet to provide reservation for Kannadigas in private sector organisations, industries and enterprises has been temporarily put on hold. This will be revisited and decided in the coming days,” the Chief Minister’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Controversy over Karnataka job reservation bill
Business executives and IT tycoons sharply criticized the reservation measure for Kannadigas in private enterprises on the grounds that it appears to discriminate against qualified non-Kannadiga personnel.
Industry veterans fiercely reacted to the state government’s action, denouncing the proposed quota as “short-sighted” and “fascist.” TV Mohandas Pai, a well-known businessman and former Infosys CFO, called the bill “regressive”.
“This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution. This is a fascist bill as in Animal Farm, unbelievable that @INCIndia can come up with a bill like this- a government officer will sit on recruitment committees of private sector? People have to take a language test?” Pai said in a statement on social media platform X.
Is such a bill desirable?
A state has already introduced a bill for the benefit of the local populace. It is not legally tangible in most cases.
In the previous event, the Haryana government introduced a bill that required inhabitants of the state to receive a 75% reservation in private sector jobs. However, on November 17, 2023, the Punjab and Haryana High Court knocked down the measure.
The legislation states that “Any industry, factory or other establishments shall appoint 50 per cent of local candidates in management categories and 70 per cent in non-management categories.”
It further said that candidates who do not have secondary school diplomas with Kannada as a language must pass a Kannada proficiency exam as determined by the “Nodal Agency.” In order to confirm the report, the nodal agency will have the authority to request any records, information, or documents that are in the hands of an employer, occupant, or manager of an establishment.
For the purpose of ensuring that the Act’s provisions are followed, the government may designate as the authorized officer any officer with at least the rank of Assistant Labour Commissioner.
In Karnataka, the opposition BJP has issued a warning to the state’s Congress government, saying that they should brace themselves for public outrage should they neglect to introduce the measure in the current legislative session that requires private sector reservations for Kannadigas.
