Reservation has always been a hot-button topic in the Indian paradigm. Although reservation has largely been cast-oriented in India, in a deviation from that trend, governments, particularly state governments, have been focusing on the possibility of bringing reservation into the private sector, particularly for 'local of state'.
Here, according to propositions, the first right to a job created in the state would be given to the local citizen of the state, before an 'outisder', who may be from a different state.
Haryana was one of the first states to moot this idea. Now, in a recent development, the southern state of Karnataka has also made it to the headlines for the same reason. According to reports, the state government of Karnataka, under the leadership of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, has made a move in that direction.
The state cabinet has approved a 50 per cent reservation for 'Kannadigas' in management jobs. In addition, 'Kannadigas' will also have 75 per cent of reservations in non-management categories.
This populist move has come at a time when the Karnataka government has been in the news recently over allegations of corruption that allegedly benefited the CM's family.
This approval is crucial, given the fact that the state houses one of the biggest cities and business powerhouses in the country, Bengaluru. Over the past decade and a half, the Garden City has seen a significant rise in migration, thanks to its boom as the tech and start-up capital of the country.
This move has garnered reaction from business sector leaders in the city. Mohandas Pai, a well-known name in India Inc. who is also said to be close to the BJP leadership, took to X to admonish the cabinet decision.
He said, "This bill should be junked. It is discriminatory, regressive and against the constitution @Jairam_Ramesh is govt to certify who we are?"
Pai even termed the bill fascist, and said, "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 private sector? People have to take a language test?"
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Pai was not alone, as he himself was reacting to a post from another big-name, Biocon chief Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. Shaw took to her account and said," 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."
She further tagged Karnataka's Congress leadership and said," There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy. @siddaramaiah @DKShivakumar @PriyankKharge."\
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There were other reactions as well, which echoed the concerns of these business tycoons and asked questions of the ruling establishment.
