Karnataka has drafted a legislation to provide 75% reservation to Kannadigas in industries, MSMEs, joint ventures and public-private partnerships. The draft Bill is modelled after a similar law enacted in Andhra Pradesh.

The Karnataka Employment of Local Candidates in Factories, Shops, Commercial Establishments, Micro, Small, Medium Enterprises and Joint Ventures Bill, 2019, has been drafted following announcements by successive governments to prioritise Kannadigas for jobs generated in the state.







Though it is unclear whether the Bill will be tabled during the upcoming Budget session of the legislature, Labour Minister S Suresh Kumar said that he was keen on pushing it.

"We have already conducted preliminary meetings to assess how trade unions felt about it. However, the Bill is yet to be drafted completely," he said.

If the law is implemented, three-fourth of the jobs in Karnataka will be reserved for those who have resided in Karnataka for more than 15 years. Sources say that finer details of the Bill were being worked out and preference will also be given to those who lost land to industries.

Under the provisions of the Bill, industries will have to provide a list of employees to the Labour department on a regular basis, in order to ensure compliance.

In a note accessed by DH, the Department of Parliamentary Affairs & Legislation has observed that according to Article 16(2) of the Constitution, citizens cannot be discriminated on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them for employment. However, providing 75% reservation to locals in shops, establishments and MSMEs can be done under provisions of Constitution Articles 39, 41, 43 and 47.

The Y S Jaganmohan Reddy-led Andhra Pradesh government passed the Andhra Pradesh Employment of Local Candidates in Industries/Factories Act, 2019 in July last year. Other states such as Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have announced plans to reserve jobs for locals.

Recently, the B S Yediyurappa-led Cabinet decided to amend the Karnataka Industrial (Standing Orders) Rules, 1961, to make industrial establishments give primacy to Kannadigas in blue-collar jobs.

This is not the first time Karnataka has pushed to reserve jobs for locals in the private sector. The Siddaramaiah-led Congress government had moved to provide 100% reservation in all private industries, excluding IT-BT sector, which did not take off. The Congress government had also unsuccessfully pushed for 70% reservation of all Kannadigas in industries in 2014.