“We don’t want to harm anyone.” Here’s the full story about the Karnataka government’s proposed reservations for Kannadigas.
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00:00The Karnataka government proposed to reserve 50% managerial positions and 75% non-managerial positions for Karnatakas in private sector jobs.
00:09But they had to put a pin in this plan just a day later.
00:12Let me explain.
00:13On 15th July 2024, the Karnataka cabinet approved a draft bill which proposed major reservations for locals in private sector jobs.
00:22The bill defined locals as those born in Karnataka who'd lived in the state for 15 years and who were fluent in Kannada.
00:29Where we can accommodate Karnatakas, where not we can give them free hand, that we'll discuss and we'll come back.
00:34Bengaluru, the capital of Karnataka, is called the Silicon Valley of India.
00:39Thousands of Indian startups and international companies operate from the popular IT hub.
00:44There are certain sections of the people who are well-talented outside the state.
00:50We want them to work in Karnataka.
00:52Hindustan Times reported that most of those employed in the $245 billion tech industry here were non-Karnatakas.
00:59The Karnataka population, especially Bengaluru population, has gone 1.4 crores only because outsiders coming here.
01:06They are working here.
01:08Chief Minister Siddharam Iyer said in a tweet,
01:10We are a pro-Kannada government.
01:12Our priority is to look after the welfare of Kannadigas.
01:15In the same tweet, he mentioned that his government approved a bill to make it mandatory to hire 100% Kannadigas for C and D grade posts in all private industries in the state.
01:26The Chief Minister deleted his tweet after industry heads objected to the reservation.
01:36The bill pointed out that people from North India were getting jobs in the industries running in the state.
01:41It proposed that in case companies did not find enough suitable locals to hire,
01:45they would have to collaborate with the government and train locals for three years before absorbing them.
01:50Violating its provisions would draw a fine of Rs 25,000 and if companies continued to violate it, the fine could be increased to Rs 1 lakh.
01:59The bill's critics argued that it was discriminatory.
02:08NASSCOM, the apex body for India's technology industry, said in a statement,
02:21NASSCOM members are seriously concerned about the provisions of the bill and urged the state government to withdraw the bill.
02:28No investor has to worry. We want all investors to come to Karnataka.
02:34Before Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana and Jharkhand tried to bring reservations for locals in 2019, 2020 and 2023 respectively.
02:44The Andhra Pradesh High Court ruled that the bill may be unconstitutional.
02:49On the Haryana bill, the Punjab and Haryana High Court concluded that a state could not as such discriminate against individuals
02:56on account of the fact that they do not belong to a certain state and the matter reached the Supreme Court.
03:02As for Jharkhand, while the Assembly passed the bill, it hadn't sought the Governor's assent, which meant it wasn't implemented so far.
03:09Back in Karnataka, the government put its bill on hold.
03:12We don't want to harm anyone. We are just looking, we will give them a scope.
03:17There are some solutions which have come on this issue. We are just looking at it.