The recent move by Karnataka government to reserve jobs in the private sector for its local population is currently facing sharp criticism from industry leaders, who argue that the measure will stop talent and investment from flowing into the state.
The Karnataka cabinet, on July 15, approved a draft bill that mandated 50 percent of management jobs and 70 percent of non-management roles to be kept reserved for locals in the private sector. Not only this, the state government also put a 100% quota for Kannadigas in Group C and Group D jobs (blue-collar workers) in the private sector. After the decision was announced, many industry leaders started slamming the state government saying tat this would create a huge impact into the business activities in the state and may even force some people to relocate to other states.
Different leaders and executive managers took to their respective social media accounts to raise a voice on this issue.
Coming down heavily on the decision, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, executive chairperson of Biocon Limited wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “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.”
Meanwhile, former Infosys CFO TV Mohandas Pai called the decision as a ‘fascist bill in Animal farm’ also slammed the draft bill. He wrote on X, “This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive, and against the Constitution.”
RK Misra, co-founder of Yulu and co-chairman of ASSOCHAM, said, “If the government forces companies to hire only locals, they will likely relocate to places like Pune and Hyderabad.” Nooraine Fazal, co-founder and CEO of Inventure Academy, said: “In a globalized world, we need and want the best person for a specific role.” Terming it as a loom scare, an industry veteran, speaking on condition of anonymity, said, “This is a disaster. Karnataka, with the largest number of GCCs and expectations for more investments, faces a looming scare.”
