NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government’s quota bill to facilitate reservation for locals in jobs led to a massive uproar on Wednesday, with stakeholders expressing disappointment and multiple concerns over the outcome which would pan out following the bill’s implementation.
Karnataka State Employment of Local Industries Factories Establishment Act Bill, which caps employment for non-locals in private companies in the state, proposes to reserve 50 per cent of jobs in managerial roles and 70 per cent in non-managerial jobs for local candidates.
The quota shall be applied to all industries, factories, and other establishments in the state.
It also stipulates that candidates not possessing a secondary school certificate with Kannada as a language will need to pass a Kannada proficiency test.
The bill, which is yet to become law, will not be immune to challenges even if the Karnataka assembly passes it with ease.
Taking a cue from Haryana and Bihar‘s similar push in the past, Karnataka’s quota bill might not pass the muster of law — as happened with the two northern states.
High court’s blow to Bihar govt
Last month Patna high court struck down a 65 per cent reservation cap set by the state in government jobs and educational institutions.
The court pronounced the judgement after hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the increase in quota for backward, extremely backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and higher educational institutions in the state.
The petitioners had challenged the constitutional validity of the amendments made in reservation laws. On November 21, the state government had notified the amended reservation laws.
The Bihar government in November last year had officially notified in the state gazette two bills, aiming to raise the quota for deprived castes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and educational institutions. With the enactments, Bihar held the highest reservation percentage among larger states, reaching a total of 75 per cent.
According to the gazette notification, the revised reservation percentages included 20 per cent for scheduled castes, 2 per cent for scheduled tribes, 18 per cent for backward classes, 25 per cent for extremely backward classes, and the EWS has 10 per cent quota in the state.
The amendments represented an increase in the quota for scheduled castes from 16 per cent to 20 per cent, scheduled tribes from 1 per cent to 2 per cent, extremely backward classes from 18 per cent to 25 per cent, and backward classes from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.
Haryana govt faced similar blow
Last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had set aside the Haryana government’s law– The Haryana state Employment of Local Candidates Act 2020, providing 75 per cent reservation in Haryana industries for the domiciles of the state.
The division bench comprising Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan of the HC passed these orders after hearing several petitions filed by various Industrial bodies of Haryana.
The main grievance of the Industrial bodies was that by introducing policy of “Son of Soils”, the Haryana government wants to create reservation in private sector which is infringement of the constitutional rights of the employers because private sector jobs are purely based on the skills and analytical blend of mind of the employees who are citizen of India having constitutional rights on the basis of their education to do jobs in any part of India.
Karnataka State Employment of Local Industries Factories Establishment Act Bill, which caps employment for non-locals in private companies in the state, proposes to reserve 50 per cent of jobs in managerial roles and 70 per cent in non-managerial jobs for local candidates.
The quota shall be applied to all industries, factories, and other establishments in the state.
It also stipulates that candidates not possessing a secondary school certificate with Kannada as a language will need to pass a Kannada proficiency test.
The bill, which is yet to become law, will not be immune to challenges even if the Karnataka assembly passes it with ease.
Taking a cue from Haryana and Bihar‘s similar push in the past, Karnataka’s quota bill might not pass the muster of law — as happened with the two northern states.
High court’s blow to Bihar govt
Last month Patna high court struck down a 65 per cent reservation cap set by the state in government jobs and educational institutions.
The court pronounced the judgement after hearing petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the increase in quota for backward, extremely backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and higher educational institutions in the state.
The petitioners had challenged the constitutional validity of the amendments made in reservation laws. On November 21, the state government had notified the amended reservation laws.
The Bihar government in November last year had officially notified in the state gazette two bills, aiming to raise the quota for deprived castes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in government jobs and educational institutions. With the enactments, Bihar held the highest reservation percentage among larger states, reaching a total of 75 per cent.
According to the gazette notification, the revised reservation percentages included 20 per cent for scheduled castes, 2 per cent for scheduled tribes, 18 per cent for backward classes, 25 per cent for extremely backward classes, and the EWS has 10 per cent quota in the state.
The amendments represented an increase in the quota for scheduled castes from 16 per cent to 20 per cent, scheduled tribes from 1 per cent to 2 per cent, extremely backward classes from 18 per cent to 25 per cent, and backward classes from 15 per cent to 18 per cent.
Haryana govt faced similar blow
Last year, the Punjab and Haryana high court had set aside the Haryana government’s law– The Haryana state Employment of Local Candidates Act 2020, providing 75 per cent reservation in Haryana industries for the domiciles of the state.
The division bench comprising Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Harpreet Kaur Jeewan of the HC passed these orders after hearing several petitions filed by various Industrial bodies of Haryana.
The main grievance of the Industrial bodies was that by introducing policy of “Son of Soils”, the Haryana government wants to create reservation in private sector which is infringement of the constitutional rights of the employers because private sector jobs are purely based on the skills and analytical blend of mind of the employees who are citizen of India having constitutional rights on the basis of their education to do jobs in any part of India.