Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Thursday said the bill mandating jobs for local Kannadigas in private companies has not yet been discussed in detail in the Cabinet as he came under pressure from the Opposition BJP to present the draft law in the ongoing legislature session itself.
“There was some confusion (over the bill). We will clear the confusion in the coming days,” the CM posted on microblogging site X, while adding that it would be placed again before the Cabinet for detailed discussions.
In a last-minute decision, Siddaramaiah Wednesday night announced putting the jobs bill on hold after it triggered widespread backlash from captains of the tech industry and the industry body NASSCOM.
BJP state unit president BY Vijayendra urged the CM to either present the bill in the ongoing session or be prepared to face the wrath of locals for putting off the bill.
The BJP leader, in a post on the microblogging site X, called the CM’s decision a ‘cowardly’ one. “Why mess with the lives of Kannadigas.” The lobby of anti-Karnataka has prevailed behind the timid decision of the CM to take U-turn three times on his X account and to finally go back on the government’s decision, he added.
Big hands in Delhi, Vijayendra alleged, had tied the hands of the CM who may have feared a split in the INDIA alliance. Kannadigas, he added, were not getting jobs despite their qualification and the proposed law had given a ray of hope to millions of unemployed people in rural areas.
BJP leader CT Ravi alleged that the CM had brought up the reservation bill now to divert people’s attention away from the scams the government was embroiled in.
The Karnataka Employers Association, meanwhile, has requested the CM, in a letter, not to proceed with the bill as it would have several implications for the state. The law enacted by Haryana has been struck down by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, and the matter is pending before the Supreme Court. The bill passed by Andhra Pradesh is also before the High Court which has asked the government to show why it should not be stuck down, Association President BC Prabhakar said in the letter.
Karnataka’s has sought to make it compulsory for private companies to ensure 50-75% of jobs in management and below levels to locals had provoked angry reactions from the tech industry. Some industry leaders have called it a “short-sighted”, “fascist” move that could hurt Karnataka’s image as an investor-friendly state, which houses huge tech companies, thousands of startups and global capability centres (GCCs) of many multinationals. Industry body Nasscom warned that it could force companies to relocate.
