It’s a classic case of well-intended legislation becoming a casualty of poor planning and bad execution.
How the Siddaramaiah government tried to push the Karnataka State Employment of Local Candidates in the Industries, Factories & Other Establishments Bill, 2024, and later put it on hold after backlash from industries showed that it had not done the groundwork properly before attempting to roll out a law with far-reaching implications. The bill proposed 50% reservation for Kannadigas in jobs in the private sector in the management category and 75% in the non-management category.
Given the current political tensions, it also provided some grist to the opposition’s charge that the government was trying to use the bill to divert attention from a series of allegations, including a multi-crore scam in the Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribe Development Corporation Limited, a state government undertaking. This has created a major stand-off between the government and the opposition in the ongoing monsoon session of the state legislature. Politics apart, the proposed law that has now been kept on ice and will likely come up for discussion in the cabinet on Monday, is directly linked to employment generation and attracting investments, while also impacting several other aspects that have a direct bearing on the state’s economic growth. The government needs to handle it deftly.
However, sharp criticism from the industry leaders showed that the government was completely caught off guard. It is surprising, how the ministers and top bureaucracy failed to anticipate such a situation and made little effort to assure industries that it would not impact their competitive edge.
Failure to do due diligence sent the wrong message to the industry and prospective investors as well. It also caused a major embarrassment to the state government. Now, it will take a lot of effort and time to change the perception of the state in the private sector.
The lack of proper coordination and understanding between different ministries led to the stalling of the bill and industry captains were not briefed properly about the proposed law.
Those in the know of the developments claim the bill was drafted after extensive work in the government and it was vetted by the Law Department. It was also discussed in the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting before coming to the cabinet for approval.
The bill was then sent to the Parliamentary Affairs Department for further processing so the Labour Minister could table it in the assembly during the ongoing session. In fact, on July 17, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah tweeted about the cabinet approving the bill for reservation for Kannadigas in the private sector. Within hours, he put out another tweet stating that the bill was still in the preparation stage and that a final decision would be taken after a comprehensive discussion in the next cabinet.
Even those in the government admit that they made a mistake by not conveying the finer details of the bill to the stakeholders. Ideally, the government should formulate such policies in consultation with all the stakeholders. It should be made clear that it will not interfere with the working or selection process in the private sector, which continues to follow its recruitment system.
However, it is wrong to say that industries don’t get talented manpower locally. Availability of skilled manpower, apart from pleasant weather and industry-friendly policies, is one of the reasons why the state is home to several top industries in many sectors and an undisputed leader in the IT/BT sector with 400 Fortune 500 companies currently present in the state.
While bringing in legislation to back Kannadigas, the government should send out a message that it is not hostile to people from other states working in Karnataka. People from across the country live and work here and call ‘Namma Bengaluru’ their home. They contribute to the city and state as much as anyone else. The whole approach of the policy should be inclusive and that is the message which needs to be sent out.
Also, the state government that gives unemployment dole, should focus more on working closely with the industries to upgrade the skill sets of graduating youth as per the industries’ requirements. Though it is already being done, they need to scale it up.
As every state attempts to woo potential investors, a half-baked approach by the state government may force them to turn to other states. Hardly, a fraction of promised investments materialise. All this becomes even more important when the state is aiming at 15-16% growth annually to reach the goal of $1 trillion GDP by 2032.
The government is justified and even mandated to uphold the interests of its citizens, but it should not try to control the private sector or even give that impression. The industry must also respect the sentiments of the citizenry. The challenge is to strike that delicate balance and deliver the message correctly.
Political radar
Ramu Patil
Assistant Resident Editor
ramu@newindianexpress.com
