Karnataka reservation bill put on hold ‘temporarily’ following backlash from industry

NEW DELHI: The Karnataka government has temporarily put the job reservation bill on hold, chief minister Siddaramaiah informed on social media. The bill mandating reservation for Kannadigas will be revisited and decided, he said. “The bill approved by the cabinet to provide reservation for Kannadigas in private sector organizations, industries and enterprises has been temporarily put on hold. This will be revisited and decided in the coming days,” the CM said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

The Congress government in Karnataka earlier became defensive after an aggressive push for a '100 per cent reservation' for Kannadigas in the private firms in the state following a severe backlash from industry veterans.

The state cabinet on July 15 approved the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories and Other Establishments Bill, 2024, which makes it mandatory for private organisations to reserve jobs for locals.

Karnataka reservation bill

"Any industry, factory or other establishments shall appoint fifty per cent of local candidates in management categories and seventy percent in non-management categories," the bill read. If the candidates do not possess secondary school certificates with Kannada as a language, they will have to pass a Kannada proficiency test, it added. The government may appoint an officer for keeping an eye on the compliance of the provisions of the act, the bill further stated.

Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah today deleted his post on X about '100 per cent reservation for Kannadigas' and posted another message that the cabinet approved the bill to fix 50% reservation for administrative posts and 75% for non-administrative posts for Karnataka locals in private sector jobs.

Earlier he had said, "The Cabinet meeting held yesterday (Monday) approved a bill to make recruitment of 100 per cent Kannadigas mandatory for "C and D" grade posts in all private industries in the state."

(with inputs from PTI)