Is the local quota in private jobs justifiable?
Government can think of such reservations in public sector
Prof. V. Balamohan Das, former Vice-Chancellor, Acharya Nagarjuna University, Visakhapatnaman
It can definitely appeal to private sector to do so,but cannot insist as legal requirement
It is unfortunate that some governments conceive the idea of reservation of jobs for locals and or Scheduled Castes/Tribes/OBCs in private sector. Already AP, Haryana and Jharkhand initiated proposals in 2019, 2020 and 2021 respectively but landed in litigation in High Courts in some cases. As of today it is proposed but not implemented. The new proposal of the Karnataka Govt. for 50 percent in managerial posts and 70 percent in other jobs in private sector was criticised by the industry circles forcing the government has put it on hold.
The government can think of such reservations in public sector, but it is not wise to insist on such policy in private sector. It can definitely appeal to the private sector to do so but cannot insist as a legal requirement. All private sector enterprises engaged in manufacturing and allied activities may not find it advantageous on their own for economical reasons. But in respect of specialised enterprises like software, it is neither possible nor suitable.
The Congress government in Karnataka shocked the corporates by announcing reservations for local people in private jobs recently. But it went back on this after corporates including IT industry body Nasscom opposed it. But way back in 2019, the YSRCP government in Andhra Pradesh enacted a law, reserving 75 per cent jobs in private sector to locals. But Nara Lokesh, the new IT Minister of AP, invited corporates from Bengaluru to come to Andhra Pradesh if they are not happy with local quota in Karnataka. In this backdrop, Bizz Buzz is carrying opinions of corporate leaders and businesspersons whether local quota in private jobs is justifiable.
