Locals on rolls: K’taka Inc bats for merit over politics
The Karnataka government’s decision to ask multinational companies (MNCS) in the state to disclose the number of Kannadigas (locals) employed there has faced criticism from industry veterans who prioritise meritocracy over politics.
“This move to compel companies to hire more locals is not advisable,” said Venkatraman Balakrishnan, chairman of Exfinity Venture Partners and former Infosys board member. “Instead, the government should promote and incentivise companies to generate more high-end jobs with locals. The information technology (IT) industry is global, and such policies will not benefit the sector,” he added.
After the government tabled the Kannada Language Comprehensive Development (Amendment) Bill in the legislative council earlier this week, Karnataka’s Minister of Kannada and Culture Shivaraj Tangadagi said MNCS must display the number of Kannadigas employed on notice boards on their campuses.
T V Mohandas Pai, chairman of Aarin Capital Partners and former Infosys board member, said this was a “misguided move”. “If the Karnataka government is genuinely interested in providing greater employment opportunities for Kannadigas, it would be better to invest more in higher education and skill development, particularly for those from North Karnataka, where high-quality educational institutions are scarce,” said Pai. He added IT companies and MNCS in Karnataka hire based on objective tests and interviews. Karnataka is home to over 5,500 IT and Itenabled services companies and nearly 750 MNCS contributing to over $58 billion in exports, providing direct employment to over 1.2 million professionals and creating over 3.1 million indirect jobs, according to the Karnataka Economic Survey 2022–23.
Rituparna Chakraborty, cofounder of Teamlease, said, “We keep seeing these spurts of unreasonable protectionist and populist moves at different points in various states. Any state economy not based on meritocracy cannot improve its gross domestic product or the per capita earnings of individuals. However, that is completely ignored.”