BHOPAL: The Kamal Nath-led Madhya Pradesh government on Monday made it mandatory for all industries in the state to provide 70% employment to local youth.

“Vachan patra ke vadon par amal karte hue hamne rajya sarkar dwara poshit sabhi udyogon main 70 fisadi rozgar MP ke sthaniya logon ke liye anivarya kar diya (To fulfil the manifesto promise, we have made 70% jobs mandatory for local youth of MP across industries facilitated by state government,” Nath tweeted.

“The new industrial policy has been made effective and all industries who seek incentive and advantages from the state must provide 70% jobs to local youth. We have not received any proposal turning down incentives provided by government, hence all industries covered under this policy will have to mandatorily follow the rule,” said principal secretary of department of industry Mohammed Suleman.

Sources in the department said firms given land and other facilities by the former BJP government have also been asked to follow the new policy.

Nath, who announced the state’s new industrial policy in December 2018, will hold discussions with industrialists on February 19 to encourage investment and generate employment for youth.

After taking over as the 18th CM of Madhya Pradesh on December 17, 2018, Nath had reiterated that his government would have a new industrial policy to promote investment and those who seek state incentives must abide by the new rules.

Undeterred by criticism for linking job deprivation to migration from other states, he stuck to his 70%-job clause. The CM, in his personal capacity, assured industrialists of a conducive atmosphere to invest in Madhya Pradesh. Nath, on his recent visit to Davos for the World Economic Forum, met with several industrial groups.

“We plan to hold the ‘Invest Madhya Pradesh’ summit from October 18-20. The government has provided all possible assistance to investors to promote industries in the state and will hold one-to-one discussions to see it happening,” chief secretary S R Mohanty told TOI.

As per the new industrial policy, the government has decided to set up training sessions and employment fairs in each district to register unemployed youth who will be provided stipend and later jobs under the 70% clause.

Sources said the previous BJP government had offered to provide 50% jobs to local youths during Global Investor Summits held between 2007 and 2016. However, red-tape proved the biggest hurdle in promoting investment.

Industrialists seemed to welcome the job rider. “There is no problem for industries to employ 70% local youth and there are ample opportunities to adjust manpower. The only hurdle is bureaucratic attitude and stubbornness. We consider chief minister Nath better to communicate with rather than bureaucrats,” said industrialist and former state head of PHD Chamber of Commerce Rajendra Kothari.

