75% reservation in private sector to job seekers from state

Haryana Governor Satyadeo Narain Arya has given assent to the Bill providing 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state, Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar said here on Tuesday.

The Haryana Assembly had late last year passed the Bill, a key poll promise made by the ruling alliance partner Jannayak Janta Party.

"The Haryana Governor today gave his assent to the Bill entailing 75 per cent reservation in the private sector to job seekers from the state. The government will notify it soon," the CM told reporters at a press conference here.

The Haryana State Employment of Local Candidates Bill, 2020 provides quota for local people in private sector jobs that offer a salary of less than Rs 50,000 a month.

The quota will initially apply for 10 years, according to the Bill.Apart from tackling unemployment among local people, the state government said the law will discourage the influx of migrants seeking low-paid jobs, which has a significant impact on local infrastructure and leads to the proliferation of slums.

The private sector job quota move was piloted by deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala’s JJP. The controversial piece of legislation did not find much support from the BJP quarters initially. In fact, CM Khattar had once sounded non-committal on the prospect of enacting such a law.

Sources said since the BJP government at the Centre has a very different view on the matter, it was surprising how the governor assented to the bill.

As per the statement of objects and reasons of the bill, giving preference to local candidates in low-paid jobs is socially, economically and environmentally desirable and any such preference would be in the interests of the general public.

“The bill will provide tremendous benefits to the private employers directly or indirectly through qualified and trained local work force. Availability of suitable workforce locally would enhance the efficiency of Industry as the workforce is one of the major components for the development of any industrial organisation,’’ it said.