Hire Kannadigas Or Else...: Law To Provide Reservation In Private Jobs For Locals In Karnataka On Its Way

Following closely on the heels of Andhra Pradesh, which has a 70 per cent reservation for locals in the private sector, the Karnataka government is looking to bring a law that mandates 80 per cent reservation for Kannadigas.

The department of labour is reportedly making the necessary preparations to formulate this law that will withdraw incentives and penalise companies that do not employ Kannadigas.

The government had issued an advisory recently where it required that private companies give priority to hiring locals but it didn’t have the sanction of a law and hence wasn’t taken seriously.

But with the government pushing to bring about this proposed law, all private companies including the large number of IT/BT firms in silicon city will have to ensure 80 per cent of its blue collar task force is Kannadiga.

Reservation for Kannadigas

Anyone who has lived in the state for 15 years and has a knowledge of Kannada is a Kannadiga, as far as this proposed reservation Bill is concerned.

The Kannada Development Authority is said to have advised the government on the need for a law to ensure the reservation policy is actually implemented.

The government now plans to table the bill in either the joint assembly session in January of the following budget session.

According to the Labour Minister S Suresh Kumar, the Bbill will be introduced in the legislature session that starts from 20 January, as quoted by the Times of India, although the proportion of reservation hasn't been finalised as yet.

As the attempt to reserve 100 per cent of jobs in the C and D category for locals by the Siddaramaiah government had got into legal trouble, the present government is ensuring these details are taken care of.

Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Jharkhand are the other states that have been contemplating reserving jobs in the private sector for locals.