Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah deletes post announcing 100% Quota Bill for jobs for Kannadigas

Just hours after announcing a full, 100 percent reservation for Kannadigas in Group C and Group D jobs on social media, Karnataka's Chief Minister, Siddaramaiah, has deleted the post with the announcement.  

After the post was deleted, the Labour Minister of Karnataka clarified that the reservation of jobs in the private firms would be a maximum of 70 percent in the non-management roles while only 50 percent for those who are eligible for the management level roles.

He added that businesses may consider employing individuals from outside the state if they are unable to find qualified applicants from this limited pool.

"If such skills are not available (in Kannadigas) then the jobs can be outsourced. The government is trying to bring in a law to give preference to locals... if skilled labour is available here."

He also emphasised that there is no talent shortage in Karnataka, stating, "Karnataka boasts a rich pool of skilled workforce with numerous engineering colleges, medical colleges, and international schools. We are urging organizations to allocate 70 percent of their work to Kannadigas. If local talent is insufficient, they can seek talent from outside the state."

In a recent post on X on Tuesday, Siddaramaiah wrote, "The bill requiring 100 percent recruitment of Kannadigas for 'C and D' grade positions in private industries across the state was approved during the Cabinet meeting held yesterday."

The now-revoked decision didn't garner the expected support from the business leaders who noted that many industries, particularly the IT industry, would suffer the most because of such a decision by the government.

Mohandas Pai, Chairman of Manipal Global Education Services, said, "This bill is discriminatory, regressive... this is a fascist bill, as in 'Animal Farm' (the George Orwell novel)."

Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, while tagging Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, and Minister for Electronics, and IT Priyank Kharge, said on a social media post: “As a tech hub we need skilled talent and whilst the aim is to provide jobs for locals we must not affect our leading position in technology by this move. There must be caveats that exempt highly skilled recruitment from this policy.”