In massive row over Karnataka 100% quota bill, Chief Minister deletes post

Mangalore Today News Network

Bengaluru, July 17, 2024: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has deleted a social media post announcing 100 per cent reservation for Kannadigas in all Group C and Group D jobs in private companies in the state.

Reservation of jobs in private firms will be capped at 70 per cent for non-management roles and 50 per cent for management-level employees, Labour Minister Santosh Lad clarified simultaneously.

"At management level, it has been decided to provide reservation to 50 per cent of the people. At the non-management level, it has been decided to provide work to 70 per cent..." he explained.

He also said that if companies were unable to hire suitable skilled candidates from this restricted pool, they could then look at hiring people from outside the state.

"If such skills are not available (in Kannadigas) then the jobs can be outsourced. The government is trying to bring in a law to give preference to locals... if skilled labour is available here..." he said.

However, he declared there is no dearth of talent in the state. "Karnataka has enough skilled workforce. There are so many engineering colleges, medical colleges, international schools... We are asking them to give 70 per cent of work to Kannadigas. If enough talent is not available they can bring from outside."

What Siddaramaiah Said

On Tuesday Siddaramaiah had posted the 100 per cent reservation news on X (earlier Twitter).

"The Cabinet meeting held yesterday approved a bill to make recruitment of 100 per cent Kannadigas mandatory for ’C and D’ grade posts in all private industries in the state," he had said.

The Chief Minister said it was his government’s wish Kannadigas be given an opportunity to lead a comfortable life in their state and not be deprived of jobs in ’Kannada land’.

"Fascist, Discriminatory": Industrialists React

However, the "discriminatory" decision was not well received by business leaders, many of whom said the IT industry, on which Bengaluru (and Karnataka) has made much of its fortune, would suffer.

"This bill is discriminatory, regressive... this is a fascist bill, as in ’Animal Farm’ (the George Orwell novel)," Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, had said on X.

Biocon Executive Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was more circumspect; she welcomed the proposal but called for "caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy".

"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 a caveat..." she said on X.

Ms Mazumdar-Shaw’s company’s registered office is in Bengaluru’s Electronics City, an 800-acre industrial and technology hub that also has offices of Infosys, Wipro, Tech Mahindra, and others.

Biocon, a global biopharmaceuticals enterprise, employs over 16,500 people.

RK Misra, co-Chairman of ASSOCHAM Karnataka, called the proposal "short-sighted".

"Another genius move from Government of Karnataka. Mandate LOCAL RESERVATION and APPOINT GOVT OFFICER IN EVERY COMPANY to monitor. This will scare (companies)... short-sighted."

Responding to these concerns, Mr Lad told news agency ANI he would speak to them.

"We respect their apprehensions and their views. We will talk to them..." he said.

"We Will Resolve..." Minister On Jobs Row

Earlier today, after industrialists expressed their concern, Commerce and Industries Minister HB Patil provided reassurance, saying "I have seen that many people have apprehensions... we will resolve this confusion... so that it does not have any adverse effect..." Mr Patil said.

He also pointed out the need for all states, not just Karnataka, to be at their "peak" in a competitive and globalised era of manufacturing and industrial revolution.

"India is experiencing a manufacturing and industrial revolution... In this competitive era, states like Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana are striving to be at their best. It is of utmost importance for all states to be at their competitive peak," he declared.

The minister said Karnataka could not lose a "once-in-a-century race of industrialisation".

Karnataka’s Jobs Reservation Proposal

Drafted by the Labour Department, the proposed bill claimed the jobs in question were being given largely to people from the northern states who were then settling in Karnataka. It proposed that Karnataka-based companies benefitting from state-provided infrastructure reserve jobs for locals.

The proposed policy, it is understood, reflected recommendations made by the Sarojini Mahishi Committee, which said large, medium and small-scale industrial units with over 50 workers had to reserve 65 and 80 per cent of Group A and Group B jobs for Kannadigas.

All Group C and Group D jobs would be kept for Kannadigas, the report had said.

However, no policies were formulated regarding these recommendations.