BENGALURU: Members of pro-Kannada organisations led by Rakshana Vedike state president Praveen Kumar Shetty, held a protest on Friday against industry leaders and tech tycoons who criticised the Kannadiga Job Reservation Bill.
The protesters expressed their anger at industrialists and tycoons with placards terming them "Entrepreneurs who hate the state" and raised slogans demanding the bill be passed in the ongoing winter session.
After facing a backlash from industries and entrepreneurs, the Karnataka government on Wednesday put the reservation bill on hold. Earlier on Monday, the bill was passed in the cabinet.
The bill stated that 50% of all management jobs and 70% of all non-management jobs in private companies are to be reserved for locals.
Speaking to TNIE, Praveen Kumar Shetty said, the government passed the bill on Monday, but after industrialists expressed anger over the bill, the government withheld it. Shetty questioned whether the government feared the industrialists or was under political pressure.
Shetty expressed that the bill should be passed in the session and that Kannadigas need reservations in the state. He added that members of the Rakshana Vedike held protests in other districts and said that if the bill is not passed within 15 days, they will hold a bike rally and protest against the government.
Meanwhile, "Boycott PhonePe" is trending in Karnataka after the founder of PhonePe criticized the reservation bill.
The National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) on Wednesday cautioned the government that "the restrictions could force companies to relocate as local skilled talent becomes scarce."