The theory of providing jobs to locals is nothing but favouritism and regionalism. Instead of nurturing talent, it will encourage a quota system based on domicile

The Haryana Government has informed that the Employment of Local Candidates Act, 2020, will be implemented in the state from January 15, 2022. The act will pave the way for a 75 per cent reservation for local candidates in private jobs in the state.

Haryana has the highest unemployment rate in the country, at 26.4 per cent according to CMIE data for February. The national rate is 6.9 per cent.When there is huge unemployment, it may create restlessness among the population and the government may have to tackle the serious issue that is brewing up.

The GDP of Haryana is Rs 8.31 lakh crore (2019-20). The GDP per capita position is a reasonable fifth nationally. When there is economic growth, it must translate into job creation also. If that is not happening, then the reasons should be analysed, instead of making a quick fix by job reservation for locals that will be counterproductive.

The theory of providing jobs to local people is nothing but favouritism and regionalism. Instead of nurturing talent and capability, it will encourage quota system based on domicile. Such recruitment will result in poor execution by the work force and the companies employing them will find it difficult to survive in a competitive world.

The country is one and the country is divided into different states for convenience of administration only. Just as free mobility of all physical resources is essential, human resource should also be freely employable anywhere in the country. The recruiting companies will always look for proper talent and skills for any job locally. Only when it is not available or when it is not competitive, the company will look elsewhere. Restricting the companies to recruit only local people will cripple the functioning of the company. Companies may migrate to other states which will be counterproductive for the state.

Article 16(1) of the Constitution states that there shall be equal opportunity for the citizens in the matter of employment or appointment to any office under the State. Article 16(2) lays down the grounds on which the citizens should not be discriminated against for the purpose of employment or appointment to any office under the State.

However, Article 16(3) provides an exception to these laws. It states thatparliament may make any laws prescribing a requirement for any particular place of residence within the state or union territory in which the public office or employment may be in.

In the case of Pradeep Jain vs Union of India, the Supreme Court found the policies of reserving jobs for sons of the soil as violative of the Constitution and said as follows: “…every citizen has a right to move freely throughout the territory of India and to reside and settle in any part of India…. it is difficult to see how a citizen having his permanent home in Tamil Nadu or speaking Tamil language can be regarded as an outsider in Uttar Pradesh….To regard him as an outsider would be to deny him his constitutional rights and to de-recognise the essential unity and integrity of the country by treating it as if it were a mere conglomeration of independent States”.

Job reservation for locals should not be confused with affirmative action which comes under Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution. They allow the State to make special provisions for reservation of admissions in higher academic places and appointments, for those communities which are socially, educationally backwards classes or are from scheduled castes or scheduled tribes and in the opinion of the state are not adequately represented in the services under the state.

The initiative to reserve jobs for locals may backfire. It is reported that the start-up community based in Haryana, particularly Gurugram, has been unnerved by the new law. As per a survey of Xpheno, around 11,000 employees are working in Gurugram’s unicorns and soonicorns. Half of them may not be locals with salaries of Rs.50,000 per month. The new dispensation will make the existing entrepreneurs to leave Gurugram and migrate to Delhi or Noida in UP. Future entrepreneurs may even go for Bengaluru to establish new ventures. Instead of addressing the problem of unemployment, the new law will drive away industries and thus create more unemployment in the state.

Instead of reserving jobs for local population, the government must ensure skill development and industry ready work force, which will automatically make them employable. This will also encourage new companies to migrate to the state when they are assured about talented and skilled workforce.

(The writer is a retired banker. The views expressed are personal.)