The Karnataka Government’s recent handling of the Bill mandating reservations for Kannadigas in the private sector has been nothing short of chaotic.

On Monday, the Bill was approved. On Tuesday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah proudly announced it. By Wednesday, it was scrapped, only to be slated for further discussion on Thursday.

This flip-flopping is not how a responsible Government should manage legislation that impacts millions of livelihoods and all business sectors.

The Karnataka Industrial Employment Rules, 2024, mandates that all industries and other ‘establishments’ appoint 50 percent of local candidates in management roles and 70 percent in non-managerial roles.

Such stringent quotas will likely drive away industries, discourage new ones and impoverish the State.

We’ve seen this before. Shiv Sena’s Bal Thackeray tried something similar in Maharashtra and it failed miserably. Today, Maharashtra thrives as India’s richest State, thanks to its robust industrial sector.

The Karnataka Congress should remember that they were elected on the back of their populist schemes, funded by taxes generated by these very industries and business establishments. But what have the Karnataka politicians done to support industries?

The last significant pro-business leader was S.M. Krishna. He nurtured Bangalore into a golden goose and subsequent leaders have only sought to exploit it without adding any value.

Now, it seems they’re ready to kill the goose entirely, under the guise of benefiting Kannadigas.

In reality, this may be a ploy to divert attention from scams like those involving the Mysuru Urban Development Authority (MUDA) and Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes                              Development Corporation.

While the CM proudly announced the Reservation Bill as if it were a boon he was bestowing upon the  Kannadigas, the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh was quick to capitalise.

Andhra’s Minister for Information Technology, Nara Lokesh, invited businesses to relocate to Vizag (Visakhapatnam), offering “best-in-class facilities, uninterrupted power, infrastructure and no Government restrictions.”

This echoes the tactics of his father, present Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu, who, in his earlier stint, transformed Hyderabad into ‘Cyberabad’ by attracting IT companies away from Karnataka.

Nara Lokesh’s call has already had an impact. An Austrian industrialist in Mysuru, frustrated by the Karnataka Industrial Area Development Board’s (KIADB) bureaucratic inefficiency, is considering relocating to Andhra Pradesh.

She has been waiting for two years for an acre of land to set up her factory for the Printed Circuit Board Industry, only to be redirected to real estate brokers showing her KIADB lands!

This exploitation of industrial lands is rampant. The rule mandates that once allotted, a KIADB land must host an industry within three years. Instead, land-sharks establish token ‘brick’ factories, file IT returns for three years, then buy the land cheaply and resell it at a profit, defeating the very purpose of industrial layouts.

The Congress Government must first create jobs before reserving them.

For a start, let them first free areas like the Hebbal Industrial Area from real estate sharks, provide unfluctuating electricity, steady water supply, good roads for heavy trucks and proper drainage to prevent flooding which can make Karnataka a manufacturing hub.

After all, manufacturing is poised to become the next major employer as Artificial Intelligence is diminishing IT job opportunities.

There is also the issue of what the Bill is based on. This legislation is based on a report submitted by the late Union Minister Sarojini Mahishi in 1986, using data from 1984. Should we really be creating laws in 2024 based on 40-year-old data?

Worse, to give a new dimension, the Government has put forth an argument that industrial accident rates are higher among non-Kannadigas due to language barrier, hence the need for local reservations. This logic is flawed.

If the Government insists on imposing quotas on private establishments, why not apply the same to itself?

Why not ensure that 70 percent of Government contracts for the construction of roads go to Karnataka companies with directors who can read and write Kannada as per the Sarojini Mahishi report instead of Andhra Companies?

The Government should regulate private firms for taxation, pollution and labour laws, but it should not micromanage their operations to the point where dealing with the Government becomes a business in itself.

This Reservation Bill will drive industries out of Karnataka and in 15 years, Kannadigas might find themselves seeking jobs in Telangana or worse in Bihar.

It is interesting to note that this Bill seems to contradict CM’s vision. Just last month on June 19, the CM, speaking at the curtain raiser of Global Investors Meet 2025, said “Our aim is to achieve an industrial growth rate of 15-16% annually to reach $1-trillion GDP by 2032.” How can this be possible with a such reservation policy?

However, there’s little need to worry. The largest land banks are held by politicians. If there are no industries, their land becomes worthless. They won’t let that happen.

Industry bodies can rest, assured that this is just the politics of Karnataka which is full of ‘nataka’ — to divert attention from corruption.

e-mail: [email protected]