Karnataka cabinet okays bill on job reservations for locals, top industrialists object

Bengaluru: In a landmark decision, the Karnataka cabinet has approved a bill aimed at ensuring fair share of job opportunities for the local population in the state.

The "Karnataka State Government Employment of Local Candidates in Industries Bill, 2024" mandates industries to reserve 50% of management positions and 75% of non-management roles for local talent.

According to the bill, a local candidate is someone born in Karnataka, who has lived in the state for 15 years, and is proficient in Kannada. Candidates must have a secondary school certificate with Kannada as a language or pass a Kannada proficiency test.

The bill allows exemptions if qualified local candidates are unavailable, but establishments must apply to the government for relaxation. Failure to comply may attract penalties ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 25,000, with additional daily penalties for continued violations.

In another significant move, the cabinet approved a 58.50% hike in salaries and pensions for state government employees, as recommended by the 7th State pay commission. This revision will increase the minimum basic pay from Rs 17,000 to Rs 27,000 and maximum pay from Rs 1,50,600 to Rs 2,41,200. The minimum pension will increase from Rs 8,500 to Rs 13,500, and the maximum pension from Rs 75,300 to Rs 1,20,600.

However, several industry leaders objected to the bill saying the focus should be on skills, not reservations.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited wrote on X: "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”.

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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. @siddaramaiah @DKShivakumar @PriyankKharge https://t.co/itYWdHcMWw

— Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (@kiranshaw) July 17, 2024 >

Former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai also slammed the draft bill. "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 govt officer will sit on recruitment committees of the private sector? People must take a language test?" he wrote on X.

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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 >

"Industry and companies will push back against this bill," said Shriram Subramanian, founder and Managing Director of InGovern Research Services. The societal impact on the psychology of citizens (both Karnataka domicile and those outside Karnataka) will be huge. Karnataka doesn't have enough talent. Industry and jobs will move out of Karnataka. This sets a bad precedent." he added.