Jobs for kannadigas: Congress’ endeavor for Viksith Karnataka

Karnataka Cabinet approval of the bill for 50% managerial jobs and 70% non-managerial jobs to be given to local Kannadigas in all the private companies in Karnataka, witnessed a much-anticipated uproar from the IT & BT companies without even assessing the merit and the spirit of the proposed bill.

Companies have invested in Karnataka for over a few decades due to free or subsidized land, govt benefits, rebates, tax holidays, resources, political stability, and most importantly quality human resources.

Even as the heated for-against debate was played out in media and social media after Labour Minister Santosh Lad spoke about the bill, Infosys and Toyota extended support and adherence to the bill. Whereas NASSCOM and a few other IT & BT Heads took exception even without reading the bill and forced the government to hold it back for now, which forced the Pro-Kannada organization into an agitation mode.

Unemployment has been the biggest challenge to every state, and safeguarding the interest of the people of the state who give away their lands for industry in the hope of a better future and jobs for their children is not an unfair demand. Local unemployment across any state leads to either excess migration or social unrest, and every state should provide necessary skills training and jobs to the youth and improve the lives of its people.

Unemployment is not a mere economic issue it’s an important political debate as it involves the empowerment of the youth. Karnataka government has taken an important step towards ensuring progress for both the state and its people, and such a step will also wake up other states that are not investing much in providing jobs for their youth and have forced them to migrate elsewhere in search of jobs.

(This article is written by Kavitha Reddy , KPCC General Secretary)