The Karnataka government has approved a bill to give reservation to locals in private jobs.
The Karnataka government has approved a bill to provide 100 per cent reservation to local residents for Group C and D posts in private companies in the state. If this bill succeeds in taking the form of law, in any industry or factory, 50 per cent of the local candidates will have to be appointed in the management category and 70 per cent in the non-management category.
According to this bill, if the candidates do not have a secondary school certificate with Kannada language, they will have to pass the proficiency test specified by the nodal agency. Apart from this, the bill also states that if local qualified candidates are not available, the institutes will have to undertake training within three years with the help of government or allied agencies.
If qualified local candidates are not available, the institutes have to take steps to train them within 3 years with the help of Government or its agencies. Apart from this, if sufficient number of local candidates are not available, the companies may apply to the Government for exemption from the provisions of this Act.
The path to reservation in private jobs is not easy
Although the Congress-ruled Karnataka government has approved the bill, its implementation as a law is still in doubt. Because about two and a half years ago Haryana government also brought a similar law, but the High Court canceled that law. In fact, earlier several states including Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh had also legislated for 75 per cent reservation for locals in industries, but due to legislative maneuvers this law could not be implemented in any of the states.
Why is there a problem in Haryana?
The Haryana government issued a notification of the ‘Haryana State Employment to Local Candidates Act’ in November 2021, after about 3 months, on January 15, 2022, the Act was implemented across the state. Industrial units challenged the law in court, arguing that the law violated the constitutional right to get a job in any part of the country on the basis of education and qualifications. The Punjab and Haryana High Court hearing the petition struck down the law giving reservation to local people in private jobs. The court declared it unconstitutional and extremely dangerous.
The Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional
The Supreme Court in one of its earlier decisions had declared reservation in private jobs as unconstitutional. In 1984, the Supreme Court made this observation while hearing a case of reservation on the basis of place of residence. A similar case came to light in the year 2002, in which the Supreme Court canceled the recruitment of teachers in Rajasthan. Apart from this, in 2019, the Allahabad High Court had also quashed the notification which had given priority in jobs to women of UP origin.
