Khattar non-committal on 75% quota for locals in jobs
nCHANDIGARH: Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Friday sprang a surprise, sounding non-committal on the prospect of enacting legislation to provide 75% reservation in private sector jobs to local residents.
Although the chief minister was emphatic that the government will go ahead with the proposed quota in private-sector jobs, the move will be a nonstarter in the absence of legislation to back it.
A pre-poll promise of BJP’S post-poll ally, the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), the proposed quota in private-sector jobs, if implemented through legislation, will be a major triumph for the BJP’S coalition partner. The BJP, in its manifesto for the October 2019 assembly elections, also committed itself to offering special incentive to industries providing over 95 % jobs to local resiter dents.
The chief minister also made a reference to hiring of unskilled workers by industries while talking about private sector jobs, indicating that the proposed job quota could be limited to unskilled workers.
“It will not be mandatory for the industry and enterprise to implement the quota. Also if the industry is not able to get 75% workers from Haryana, they will be at liberty to hire from outside the state,’’ the chief minister said. Surprisingly, deputy chief minisDushyant Chautala, who was sitting next to Khattar, did not intervene.
The council of ministers had on January 31 deferred a proposal to approve a draft Bill and referred it to the law secretary for vetting following prolonged discussions among the cabinet members. The move to introduce reservation in private sector jobs is on the lines of a law enacted by the YS Jaganmohan Reddy government of Andhra Pradesh.
“The proposal though has the potential to upset investors. In Andhra also, the move has been termed regressive,’’ a state government said.
When asked about the proposed law, Khattar told journalists on Friday that he can neither respond in the affirmative nor in the negative remarks left civil servants surprised because the draft Bill, they said, was is in an advanced stage of vetting and will soon be ready for being circulated among legislators.